


Pokelock Episode 1: A Case in Clefairy Pink

by DragonRiderSisters



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Crime Fighting, Featuring Female OC, Gen, I'm new at tagging, Murder Mystery in London, Mystery solving, PokemonAU, Some violence and violent images, Tags Are Hard, This series may or may not continue, but not really, pokemon battles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 09:23:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17342729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonRiderSisters/pseuds/DragonRiderSisters
Summary: John Watson and Arcanine are both veterans of war and believe that nothing exciting will ever happen to them. That is, until they meet the great Sherlock Holmes and his Absol and are thrown into a world of crime fighting and mystery solving. As a hidden threat terrorizes the streets of London, it is up to Sherlock, John, and their Pokemon to solve the case and stop the threat.Originally posted on FanFiction.net on Aug. 15, 2016





	Pokelock Episode 1: A Case in Clefairy Pink

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there readers! My name is Serefina "Fina" Draco, and this is my first post on AO3. Now, I'm still very new to using this site so please bear with me. As a celebration of my first story on AO3, I've decided to post one of my more popular stories from Fanfiction.net. The original idea came from my love for both Sherlock and Pokemon at the time, and I thought: what would happen if Pokemon were part of Sherlock's world? And thus this story was written. 
> 
> So, without further ado, I hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Edit: I have updated the story just so that it is better formatted. Otherwise, everything should still be the same. Also, with Pokemon: Detective Pikachu coming out, I thought I'd revisit this story and fix some things up.

The nightmares would not go away.

Or are they memories?

Yells…

Screams…

Cries…

They surrounded him on all sides.

Bodies littered the ground, both people and Pokémon. All covered with unimaginable injuries. Many lay dead, while others are dying. And the damn sun would not stop shining.

A mother, who lost her child, roared with rage at the enemy.

Soldiers and their Pokémon stood their grounds firing their attacks or running into position…

And a bullet that pierced his…

"JOHN!"

"AHH!"

John Watson screams as he sits-up in bed, his body drenched with sweat, and he could not stop shaking. A low whimper makes him sit-up a bit straighter, but once his eyes adjust, he can see that it is only his faithful companion, Arcanine. The fiery Pokémon whimpers some more as its trainer seems to lose himself once again to his dark thoughts, but lightens up a little when he receives a reassuring pat on the head.

John, on the other hand, is a mess. He pets his Pokémon to try to calm him down, but as he does, he could not help but weep a little. The memories are just too much for him. The fighting, the war, the deaths, and the …

He is once again brought out of his gloom by Arcanine licking away his stray tears. John did stop crying, but he hugs his faithful Pokémon tightly, and it did not push its trainer away.

After a few moments, John lets go and glances around the room of his tiny, London flat. The said room consists of only a bed, a bedside lamp and drawer, and a small desk, on which a metal cane rests along with a belt with five pokeballs. Sighing sadly and knowing that he isn't getting anymore sleep tonight, John makes a move to sit-up. Sensing that its trainer wants to get-up, Arcanine bounds off the bed and offers its support. With the help of his companion, John is able to limp towards his desk while holding onto Arcanine's back. As he did, he could not help but scoff at how his Pokémon can barely move in the tight space and curses his meager pension.

Once he sits down at his desk and let's go of Arcanine's back, John opens his desk drawer containing numerous bills and letters, and a laptop. He takes out the laptop, revealing a standard British Army issue Sig Sauer P226R sidearm hidden underneath. Ignoring the sidearm and closing the drawer, John starts-up his Samsung laptop and it opens to his blog called  _The Personal Blog of John H. Watson._  The webpage is well-designed, but it contains absolutely nothing. Not a single entry.

Arcanine yips, getting John's attention. It then gestures its head at the screen and gives John a look that says  _'You really should have been updating it.'_ John glances back at the screen and agrees with his Pokémon. He then realizes that his psychiatrist is going to give him hell for it.

* * *

Later that morning

John decided to just get his regularly scheduled visit to his psychiatrist over with. So here he is, hours later, sitting in a circular, almost domestic-looking, office of Ella Thompson. Arcanine is at his feet, keeping a sharp eye on Ella, her Kirlia, who is standing by its trainer's side and looks to be meditating, and her Audino, who just brought in a tray with freshly made tea and placed it on a small coffee table in between Ella and John.

Ella gives a small nod in gratitude to her Pokémon, before turning her gaze back to a stoic John. "How's your blog going?"

John seems to snap out of his thoughts and clears his throat, "It's…uh…it's going well. Yea, just well."

Ella is having none of it though and gives John a look, "You didn't write a word did you?"

"And you just wrote 'Still has trust issues.'" John says as he gestures to the notebook on her lap.

"And you just read my writing upside down," Ella retorts back, making John look away awkwardly, "While your Arcanine looks at me and my Pokémon as if we're enemies about to attack you. Now, do you see what I mean?

"John, both you and your Pokémon just got back from a tour in Afghanistan, so adjusting to civilian life is going to be a long, hard process. Writing about your experiences and getting it out of your system will do you a lot of good, which will then have a positive effect on your Pokémon. Don't you see that you're doing this for both yourself and your Pokémon?"

John looks at her and scoffs, "Yea, but…"

"But…"

"…nothing happens to me."

* * *

October 12th

In a fancy, high-class office in London, a young woman is talking over the phone with her boss, Sir Jeffery. Her Glameow perches on the window sill, soaking in the sunlight as it watches.

"What do you mean there's no car?" the middle-aged businessman asks his assistant over the phone as he walks through the station. His Manectric walks by his side while carrying a briefcase in its mouth.

"He went to Waterloo. I'm sorry." The woman then says teasingly, "Why don't you get a cab?"

"I never get cabs," the man retorts back indignantly.

The woman smirks and after looking around to make sure that no one is within earshot, she whispers while stroking her Pokémon, "I love you."

"When," Sir Jeffery asks eagerly.

"Get a cab, sir!" The woman laughs.

The man laughs back and hangs-up, smiling like a giddy child while his Pokémon rolls its eyes. Sir Jeffery heads outside and looks through the queue of cabs, not realizing that one mysterious cab has pulled up just behind him with a mysterious man gazing at him.

Sometime later, in a building overlooking the great city, Sir Jeffery unscrews a small capsule containing three pills. At his side, his Manectric lies beaten and dead. Staring wide-eyed and afraid, the man places the pill in his mouth, mouthing the words, "Please God."

Moments later, Sir Jeffery lies on the ground, choking and writhing in pain as he dry heaves his last breaths. No one else is present, besides his dead Manectric.

Later, at a police press conference, Sir Jeffery's widow gives a small speech to the crowd of journalists and photographers. By her side are her deceased husband's brother, a policeman, and her Mawile, all looking down to honor the 'dead' man. To the side of the room, the young assistant looks on in sadness, unable to hold her tears in and not willing to believe that the man she loved would just take his life. Her Glameow is equally sad and rubs itself against its trainer's legs.

* * *

November 26th

In the dead of night, two teenage boys and their Luxio and Shinx are running through the rain, trying to cover themselves with whatever they have. Unfortunately, only one has an umbrella. They tried to flag down a cab, but the cabbie simply ignores them.

One of the boys, the one without the umbrella, decides that enough was enough. He turns around and heads back the way he came, making sure to turn around and tell his confused friend, "Hey! I'll be back in a few, mate!" The Shinx bounds over to the boy once it realizes that its trainer isn't with them.

"What?" the other boy yells back.

"I'm just heading back to get my mum's umbrella! I can't take this rain anymore!" the boy replies while walking backward.

"You could have shared mine!"

"Come on mate! It's just two minutes alright!" Without waiting for his friend's response, the boy turns around and continues his walk, while using his jacket as a cover. His Shinx, on the other hand, is freezing and decides to hop-up onto the boy's free arm, ducking underneath the said jacket. It gives a happy cry before rubbing its cheek on the boy's, making him feel slightly happier about his situation. However, the two friends didn't see that a mysterious cab has been stalking them for quite some time.

After waiting a few minutes in the rain, the other boy with his Luxio are starting to become worried for their friends. "What do you think is taking them so long Luxio?"

"Lux. Luxio lux," is his Pokémon's reply, and the boy agrees. So they both go down the same path their friends did while calling out their names.

A few miles away, in a room overlooking a sports center, the boy that decided to go back home sits near the window, weeping and clutching his dead Shinx. He then looks up at an ominous figure and grasps a small capsule with some strange pills in them.

After unscrewing the bottle and taking out a pill, the boy glances one last time at the figure before placing the pill in his mouth. The next morning, newspapers all over London have one similar headline, "Boy, 18, beats his Pokémon to death before taking his own life at the Sports Center."

* * *

January 27th

A party is underway at a venue just underneath a massive building for Junior Minister for Transport, Beth Davenport. The music is pumping and everyone is either on the dance floor or at the bar. Two men, the subway bosses all the way from Unova, are also at the party since Beth was a friend of theirs. They are currently at the bar, talking to one of Beth's assistant, a young man in a sophisticated looking suit.

"And did you know that Emmet here was able to…" Ingo was about to go on, but stopped when Beth's other assistant steps up to the bar. He immediately went after her, "Why hello there Isabelle, fancy seeing you here."

Both Emmet and Isabelle roll their eyes, and Isabelle turns to her partner, ignoring Ingo's advances, "Can you believe she is  _still_  dancing? I had to ask her to bring out Fletchling and Delcatty to watch her."

"Well, that's Beth for you. She has always been a bit of a party Pokémon," Emmet says with a smirk and takes a sip of his drink, while pulling his twin to his side to stop him from further flirting with Isabelle.

"Never would have taken her as one in the office," Beth's male assistant says before turning to his partner, "Did you get the car keys off her?"

"Yep," she shows them the said keys.

"That's probably a good idea. I mean, have you seen her dancing?" Emmet says with a smile, making all four of them chuckle.

But then the male assistant gets a serious look on his face as he scans the dance floor, "Wait. Where is she?" All four of them stop their laughing, and they too scan the dance floor to no avail. Beth and her Pokémon are gone.

Outside of the party, Beth Davenport is in a daze as she stumbles to her car, her Fletchling chirps with worry and her Delcatty tries its best to get her to go back. "I'm fine both of you, really. I just want to go home." She goes through her bag trying to find her missing car keys, and her Pokémon share a glance, ' _But she doesn't have her keys.'_  The two Pokémon continue to try to bring their trainer back inside, not realizing that a pair of headlights is following their every move.

An hour or so later, behind a few shipping containers in a building site, Beth is sobbing and on her knees, glancing fearfully at a figure in front of her. The only light that illuminated the area is a single spotlight shown directly on her. Near her are the bodies of her Delcatty and Fletchling. She then grabs a small capsule, with several pills inside.

* * *

A few days later

At a police conference, Sally Donovan, a detective of Scotland Yard, is giving a brief overview of the investigation going on over the recent deaths/suicides. At her side is her colleague and superior, Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade, who is shifting uncomfortably in his seat while rubbing the back of his Mightyena for comfort. It is at times like this that he wishes he had Pokémon that can teleport. By Arceus does he hate conferences, especially press conferences.

"The body of Beth Davenport, Junior Minister for Transport, along with her Pokémon were found a few days ago in a building site in Greater London by a worker and his Pokémon. Preliminary inspections suggest that this was an act of suicide after committing murder, one that is very similar to that of Sir Jeffery Patterson and a teen, named James Phillimore. In light of this, the incidents are now treated as linked. The investigation is still ongoing. Detective Inspector Lestrade will now be taking questions."

At that, numerous flashes and indistinct chatter from the crowd erupts, each reporter trying to get their questions answered. Lestrade gestures to one reporter, and he asks, "Detective Inspector? How can the suicides be linked?"

Lestrade lets out a puff of breath before answering hesitantly, "Well, they uh… had all beaten their Pokémon to death, using a massive amount of brute force that eventually led to their deaths, and… they then all took the same poison. Um, their bodies were also found in places they had no reason to be in…in the first place, and none had shown any prior intentions or have a clear motive to…"

He is then interrupted by the same reporter, "But you can't just have serial suicides."

"Well, apparently you can."

Another reporter jumps in, "These three people…are you certain that there's nothing that links them?"

"Um, well, there's no link yet," Lestrade says a bit uncomfortably, practically gripping the scruff of his Pokémon, "But we're looking for it. There just has to  _be_  one."

Just then, everyone's phones go off, signaling that they all received a text. When they all check their phones, they see that the texts all said 'Wrong' _._

After glancing at her phone, Sally immediately turns to the reporters, "If you all just received a text, please ignore…"

"But it said 'wrong'," one reporter said, followed by a murmur of agreement from the crowd.

"Yea well…ignore that," Sally says definitively, but that didn't stop Lestrade from rolling his eyes, "If there are no more questions, I'm afraid that we are going to have to bring this session to a close…"

"If they are suicides, what are you investigating?" one reporter blurts out.

Hesitantly, Lestrade replies, "Um…As I said, these suicides and killings are clearly linked, and um…this is an unusual case, but rest assured, we have our best and finest working to solve it…"

Everyone's cellphone goes off again, each with the same message again, 'WRONG'.

"It says 'wrong' again," a reporter says, causing more murmurs to spread throughout the room. Lestrade looks even more uncomfortable, and even his Pokémon is starting to falter.

"One more question," Sally announces to quell the crowd.

One female reporter takes it, "What if these suicides are actually murders? How do we keep ourselves and our Pokémon safe."

"First of all, these are clearly suicides, and it was evident that the blows the Pokémon suffered from are from a weapon close to the body with the trainer's fingerprints all over it. As for how to avoid it, just don't commit suicide," Lestrade replies, earning himself a gasp from the reporter. Sally gives him a pointed look that says,  _'tone it back'_ , in which he did. "Of course the best way to keep ourselves and our Pokémon safe is by practicing safe and reasonable precautions, and we are all as safe as we want to be…"

And once again, everyone's phones go off with the same text again, Lestrade's being the one different, stating, 'You know where to find me. SH.' Lestrade stands-up, gives the crowd his best smile, and thanks them for coming.

Later, in the hallways of New Scotland Yard, Sally is walking with Lestrade, while complaining the entire time. Her Furfrou is at her heels, and Lestrade's Mightyena is not far away from its trainer.

"He is making us all look like idiots! You have got to stop him!"

"Oh, and if you so happen to know how he is doing this, I'll stop him," Lestrade says as he walks away from an exasperated Sally.

* * *

That same morning

In a park in the heart of London, John is walking his Arcanine, or at least trying to. His limp is very noticeable as he walked, having to lean on his Arcanine for support a few times. This earned him a few passing sympathetic glances, all of which he and his Pokémon ignored. They both hope to find a secluded spot where John can let the rest of his Pokémon out after being cooped up for so long, but so far, nothing.

As they are walking, they pass by a slightly chubby man sitting on a bench with his Furret, who immediately stands up and calls out to him, "Hey! John! John Watson!" John turns around with the help of his Arcanine and looks at the man with slight confusion, prompting the man to clarify, "It's me. Stamford. Mike Stamford. We were roommates at Bart's…"

"Oh, yea …Mike! Sorry 'bout that," John replies, finally remembering and shaking his friend's hand. From its spot on Mike's shoulder, Furret tilts its head as it examines John before concluding that he is a good enough guy and chirps happily.

Mike then crouches down a little in front of Arcanine, "And this couldn't possibly be that little Growlithe you were raising in Uni right?" Arcanine remembers the man as well and gives Stamford a big, sloppy lick on the face, making the man laugh with glee.

Both men and their Pokémon settled down on a bench after grabbing a cup of coffee each and pokepuffs for their two Pokémon. Mike glances worriedly to his friend, wondering what horrific things he could have possibly seen to make him this way, but John didn't notice.

"So…are you still at Bart's?" John decides to start-up the conversation, not liking the awkward silence that enveloped the two.

"Yea. I'm teaching, actually. Furret here is a big help and a favorite among the students…" he then smirks at his fond memories of his students, "Bright young things…reminds me very much of us. And by Arceus, do I hate them!" Both men laugh at the sarcastic remark. Mike then asks, "So what 'bout you? Just staying for a while 'til things are sorted?"

John chuckles humorlessly, "Yea right, I can't afford to live in London on an Army's pension. Plus I've got five massive Pokémon to take care of." Arcanine glances at his trainer for a moment after that last remark and gives him a slight huff before going back to talking to Furret.

"Oh come on. This doesn't sound like the John Watson I know…"

"Yea, well…that John Watson no longer exists." The two are once again left in awkward silence. Mike is now really worried for his friend, but doesn't know how to help. He could try to help, but a salary for a professor isn't all that substantial once all the bills and loans are paid for. But what can he do? John, meanwhile, regrets what he said and wishes that he can take it back. It's not as if he is trying to make it sound the way it did, but there are no other ways to say it. His old self truly is gone…and he doesn't know if it can ever be brought back.

The silence is broken after a while by Mike, who just takes a sip of his lukewarm coffee, "Couldn't Harry help?"

"Yea, like  _that's_ going to happen," John replies sarcastically, earning himself a whine from Arcanine, at which he pets his Pokémon.

"How about you get a flat-share, or something?"

"Come on Mike, who do you know would want me for a flatmate?" This causes the man to burst into a hearty laugh along with his Furret, confusing both John and Arcanine, "What's so funny?"

After their mirth died down a bit, Mike replied, "Well, let's just say that you were the second to ask me that today."

"Who's the first?"

* * *

Meanwhile…

At the morgue of St. Bart's hospital, the great Sherlock Holmes has just opened a body bag and peers inside. Also observing the body with him is his Absol, a constant presence by his side.

"How fresh?" Sherlock asks the pathologist, Molly Hooper.

The woman walks in, clutching her Minccino in her arms to keep it from scampering off, "Just in. Sixty-seven, natural causes. He used to work here, so I knew him well. He was very nice. It really is quite tragic."

Sherlock ignores the last bit and simply zips up the body bag. He then turns to Molly and gives her a faux smile, "Fine. We'll start with the riding crop."

After removing the body from the bag and placing it on a table, Sherlock proceeds to relentlessly and violently strike the corpse with the riding crop, while Absol looks on with slight boredom. From the observation window, Molly gazes on at the strange behavior, but with Sherlock, once can say this behavior isn't so strange. She flinches at each strike, yet continues to stare at the spectacle.

"You know…this is strangely erotic." A surprised Molly spins around to face the young woman who spoke. The woman is of Asian descent and is carrying an Axew in her arms.

"Sarah! Don't do that!" Molly says in mock anger as she lightly back-hand slaps the woman on the shoulder.

Sarah rolls her eyes and smirks at her friend, "Come on. You know you were thinking that."

"I am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am. Not!"

"Are. Too!"

All the while, both Minccino and Axew look back and forth until they both become dizzy.

"It doesn't matter! I'm not going to continue this!" Molly huffs in resignation, turning back to the window.

Sarah chuckles, "Fine."

"Good." Molly then straightens herself a little before turning to the other woman, "So how do I look?"

Sarah immediately notices the extra make-up and takes out a small handkerchief to dab the lipstick as well as lighten it a bit. "There you go. Go get him tiger." Molly gives her a look, but the other woman gestures for her to go for it. Molly laughs a little and braces herself before entering the room. Meanwhile, Sarah stands back and watches.

"So, bad day was it?" Molly decided to ask in hopes of easing into the conversation. Minccino senses the coming awkwardness that is to result from this encounter and hops-off to scurry around the room.

Sherlock, once again, ignores her comment while noting something in his notebook, "I need to know what bruises form in the next twenty minutes. A man's alibi depends on it. Text me."

Before Sherlock can leave the room, his Absol at his feet, Molly hesitantly asks, "Listen, I was wondering…"

"Are you wearing lipstick? You weren't wearing lipstick before," Sherlock interrupts Molly after he did a double take and notices the extra make-up.

Not knowing what to say, Molly replies, "Uh…I uh… refreshed it a bit. Isn't that right Minccino?" She looks at her Pokémon, who gives a chirp in agreement from its spot on a utility cart. Molly smiles a small, shy, yet flirtatious smile at Sherlock, who only gives her an oblivious look, making even his Absol roll its eyes.

"So, you were saying?" Sherlock asks as he goes back to his notebook.

Gazing at the man intently, she asked, "I was wondering…if you wanted to have some coffee…"

"Black. Two sugars. Also a pokepuff for Absol," Sherlock says curtly before turning to the door with his Pokémon in tow.

However, the two were stopped at the door by Sarah, who is leaning on the door frame with Axew still in her arms and a slightly pissed-off look on her face, "Really dude? You can't be serious…"

"Hello Sarah," Sherlock says in mock greeting while glancing at his phone, "Fancy seeing you here. Now, how about you move. Your wide girth is…"

"One more comment about my weight…just one more…I will give you a black eye and an ass…"

"Yes, yes. Now would you please move? I've got a case to solve…" signaling his Absol with a glance, the Pokémon turns to the woman and uses Psychic to lift her and push her back away from the door. She struggles a bit and protests loudly, so once she is placed down, she stumbled a bit. But she is out of the way, and Sherlock makes his 'dramatic' leave.

Starring after him and scoffing in disbelief at the man, Sarah turns to Molly who has been watching the entire exchange in silence at the door, "I honestly don't see what you see in him."

Molly just shrugs her shoulders and sighs, "Well, I better get him his coffee. Come on Minccino." The Pokémon climbs up and situates itself on Molly's shoulder.

At that moment, a light bulb seems to have gone off in Sarah's head, "Yea. And I'll help ya. The guy said that he wants two sugars right? Well, how about we put in these instead." Sarah says as she holds up two packs of those weird diet sugars.

"Are you sure?"

"Hey, hey, no need to worry 'kay? This will only make his drink a  _little_  funky."

"Okay," Molly says timidly as she follows the woman to the staff break room.

* * *

At the same time

In one of the many labs at Bart's, Sherlock is conducting another one of his experiments. Helping him by levitating things around delicately is his Umbreon. Absol would have been able to do it, had it not been for its lack of delicacy or patience with Sherlock's experiments. Just as Sherlock is about to pick up a floating petri-dish, John and Mike enter the room, making Sherlock look up from his work for a split second.

As John entered the room, he could not help but look around in awe at all the new equipment of the modern age, his Arcanine equally fascinated as it goes into the room, "Well, a bit different from the day." John even touches one of the pieces of equipment floating near him.

Mike laughs a bit, "You have no idea."

"Mike can I borrow your phone. Mine just ran out of power," Sherlock asks, drawing both men's attention to the sitting detective. As Mike asks Sherlock his reason for not using the landline, Arcanine notices Absol in the corner and wanders over in curiosity. Absol notices the giant Pokémon, but simply lowers its head and goes back to its meditation, making Arcanine tilt its head in confusion.

Furret climbs aboard Arcanine's back and tells it that that is just who Absol is. A growl from the said Pokémon confirms their answer, and both sweatdrop.

Back to the humans in the room, John had given Sherlock his phone, and Sherlock had then asked, "Afghanistan or Iraq?"

"Sorry?"

"Which one, Afghanistan or Iraq?"

John finally understands what Sherlock is asking and does not hide his surprise, "Uh…sorry, but how did you…" However, John isn't able to finish his question due to Molly coming into the room, carrying a coffee cup in one hand and a pokepuff in another, her Minccino perched on her shoulder with a poffin in its paws. Sarah followed soon after, but turns to give Mike a small, friendly hug.

"Ah, Molly, coffee. Thank-you. Sarah," Sherlock says curtly, giving the phone back to John and just grabbing the cup out of the poor woman's hand. He then takes a closer look at Molly's lips, "What happened to the lipstick?"

"It wasn't working for me," Molly stated tersely. She offers the pokepuff to Absol who uses its Psychic to bring it towards it.

"Really? I thought that it was a big improvement, your mouth is too small now," Sherlock finishes while turning and heading back to his workplace and Umbreon. Molly looks down in humiliation, especially since the man just said that in front of everyone in the room.

At that moment, a Pokémon bursts out of one of Molly's pokeballs, and it is an Espeon. The Sun Pokémon wastes no time and runs over to Umbreon, just as the Pokémon puts down the last object. It too, bounds towards Espeon. The two meet in the middle and begin rubbing their cheeks together affectionately and cooing in happiness.

The sight brought laughter to Sarah, John, and Mike; however, Molly looks on with utter embarrassment at her Pokémon's actions towards her crush. Meanwhile, Sherlock rolls his eyes at the public display of affection and takes a sip of his coffee, grimacing at the strange and awful taste. He glances over to Sarah, who smirks and pretends to be invested in the two happy Pokémon.

"Honestly, Molly. Control your Pokémon," Sherlock says grumpily as he places the mug down, "Umbreon. Come here."

The Pokémon glances at its trainer and sighs sadly. It shares one last nuzzle with Espeon before it goes back to Sherlock. Molly calls back Espeon, shyly putting the pokeball away in her lab coat.

"Well, that was interesting," Sarah says to break the awkward silence. She then glances at her watch, "Oh. Gotta get back to work, see ya guys!" And with that, the perky woman skips out of the room, followed by a still-embarrassed Molly.

Once again, the only occupants in the room are John, Sherlock, a smirking Mike, and their Pokémon. The silence is broken by Sherlock this time, "How do you feel about the violin?"

John is confused and looks at Mike before realizing that Sherlock was talking to him, "I'm sorry…wha…"

"I play the violin when I'm thinking and can stop talking for days on end. Absol is no real hassle, but it prefers to stay out of its pokeball. I also have other Pokémon, six total with me," Sherlock stops to glance over at a confused John, "Potential flatmates need to know the worst about each other."

"How did you…"

"It wasn't that difficult of a leap. I told Mike this morning that I must be a difficult man to find a flatmate for, and here he is, just after lunch with an old friend who clearly just returned from a military service in Afghanistan…"

"And how did…"

"I've got my eye on a quaint place in central London. I'm sure together we can afford it…" the man says as he puts on his coat and scarf, calls back Umbreon and heads over to John, "We'll meet there tomorrow afternoon; three should do. Sorry…gotta dash. I think I left my riding crop in the mortuary. Come along Absol." The Pokémon steps gracefully around Arcanine and heads out the door ahead of Sherlock.

"Is that it? I mean, we barely know each other and already, we're looking to share a flat. I don't even know your name, or where we are meeting," John says in disbelief at the detective before he could leave. Arcanine steps to stand by its trainer, sharing his sentiment about the man.

Sherlock turns towards John with a slightly impatient look while also looking at him closely for a second, "I know you're an Army doctor and you've been invalided home from Afghanistan. I know you've got a brother who's worried about you but you won't go to him for help because you don't approve of him – possibly because he's an alcoholic; more likely because he recently walked out on his wife. And I know that your psychiatrist thinks your limp's psychosomatic – quite correctly, I'm afraid. I also know that your Arcanine is not just a service Pokémon, but an old friend from your childhood, given to you by a family friend, and you also have four other members in your team."

Both John and Arcanine openly gape at the man and stare in slight awe. Before he leaves again, Sherlock turns back, "The name's Sherlock Holmes and the address is 221B Baker St." He gives John a quick click-wink and bids Mike a 'good afternoon', disappearing out the door.

"Yea, he does that a lot," Mike says slyly as he gathers his stuff and heads towards the door as well, his Furret wrapping itself around his neck like a scarf. John gives Arcanine a look that says,  _'what have we gotten ourselves into?'_

Later that day, back at his flat, John slumps down on his bed, and Arcanine lies its head on his lap. He then takes out his phone and looks at the message sent, only to be confused at the weirdly worded message. He decides to look up Sherlock Holmes on the internet and is surprised at what he found.

* * *

Meanwhile…

In an unknown location, a middle-aged woman is kneeling down to pick up a small capsule with pills in it, her Clefairy lying at her feet.

* * *

The next day

John has just arrived at the address with his Arcanine by his side like always. As he knocks on the door to the building, a cab pulls up to the curb, and Sherlock Holmes along with his Absol climb out. After paying the cabbie, both men exchange greetings.

"Well, this looks like a nice place," John comments looking around, "Must be expensive."

"Oh, Mrs. Hudson, the landlady, is giving me a special deal. Owes me a favor. A few years back, her husband got himself sentenced to death in Florida. I was able to help out," Sherlock nonchalantly shrugs.

"Oh…you stopped her husband from being executed?"

"Oh no. I ensured it." Both John and Arcanine gape at him as if he sprouted a second head, and both share a nervous look at each other,  _'Oh boy.'_

John never got the chance to ask further because the door opens, revealing a smiling Gothitelle, "Goth. Gothitelle."

"Hello, Gothitelle. Is Mrs. Hudson in?" Sherlock asks the Pokémon almost kindly. The Pokémon beams at the sight of the man and calls back over its shoulder to its trainer, summoning an old, sweet-looking woman to the door.

"Oh, Sherlock. So good to see you again," Mrs. Hudson opens her arms and gives the man a quick hug, which he returns. Sherlock then turns to John and introduces him to the landlady before they all went upstairs, Gothitelle being the one to close the door. It is a slightly tight fit for a big Pokémon like Arcanine going up the stairs, but it manages to squeeze through. Both Sherlock and Absol ascend effortlessly up the stairs, but waited at the first landing for John to hobble up with his Arcanine.

Upon entering the living room of the flat, John notices that the room is indeed spacious, but just a bit cluttered with all sorts of boxes and knick-knacks. The clutter is going to be a bit troublesome for his Arcanine as well as his other larger Pokémon, so that had to go, "Well, this looks really nice. Nice indeed."

"My thoughts exactly," Sherlock glances around happily.

Then, simultaneously, both Sherlock and John said, "So I went straight ahead and moved in / As soon as we clear all this rubbish." They look at each other for a moment and then look away in embarrassment, their Pokémon rolling their eyes and exploring the room themselves.

"Oh…so all of this is…"

"Well, I guess I can tidy up a bit…Absol…" Sherlock says as he makes a half-attempt at putting things away, shifting things here and there while his Pokémon looks on bored. It managed to find a spot near the window and lies down in the sunlight streaming in.

As John asks Sherlock about the skull and about his website that he found, Arcanine managed to find a comfortable spot next to one of the armchairs in the room. It watches the two men converse, but mostly keeps its eye on Sherlock. The man is definitely a hard one to figure out, that much both it and John agree on, but Arcanine cannot help but sense that something is just a bit off. It then looks over at the sleeping Absol and gazes at it warily.

Mrs. Hudson then enters the room with her Gothitelle in tow as well as a Chansey, "So what do you think Dr. Watson? There's another bedroom upstairs if you will be needing two."

"Of  _course_  we'll be needing two."

"Oh don't worry dear, there're all sorts around here," she then lowers her voice to a whisper, "Mrs. Turner next door got married ones." John realizes what the woman is insinuating and looks over to Sherlock to confirm that Sherlock doesn't feel that way, only to see that the man is oblivious to the entire exchange. Mrs. Hudson then heads into the kitchen with Gothitelle and exclaims her displeasure at the mess in the kitchen. Both of them begin to tidy-up what they can, but they know better than to touch the detective's experiments.

While that is happening, Chansey is lightly dusting the armchair next to Arcanine and placing an old pillow on it. Once it is satisfied, it chirps and gestures to John to sit down. John accepts the act of hospitality and thanks the Pokémon. Silence takes over the room as no one seems to know what to say. Absol seems to have fallen asleep, Arcanine continues its vigilance around the room, Sherlock continues moving things around with Chansey trying to help, and John watches the man, trying to learn what he can. After giving him a once over, John notices that the detective has a very similar pokebelt/holster that he has, holding a total of six, shrunken pokeballs.  _"So he must have five other Pokémon with him,"_ John deduces,  _"An Absol and Umbreon, I wonder what else he's got."_

The silence is broken by none other than Mrs. Hudson as she enters the room with a newspaper in hand, "Hey Sherlock, what about these murders/suicides. They seem right up your street. Three scenarios exactly the same."

Absol suddenly sits-up straight, and both it and Sherlock glance out the window at the sound of a car parking in front, "Four."

"A fourth?"

"There's been a fourth, but something's different this time."

Immediately as he uttered those words, the sound of footsteps echoed up the stairs, and DI Lestrade himself, along with his Mightyena, appear at the door to the living room.

"Where?" Sherlock asks briskly as if he was expecting the man to show up. Absol makes a move to stand by Sherlock and it stares down Mightyena with a smirk.

"Brixton, Lauriston Gardens."

"What's different about this one? You wouldn't have come to get me if there wasn't something different."

"You know how they never leave notes? And that there is always a dead Pokémon?"

Sherlock nods.

"This one did. And the Pokémon is missing. Will you come?"

"Who's on forensics?" Sherlock asks out of the blue.

"It's Anderson."

Sherlock grimaces at the name, "Anderson won't work with me. What about preliminary investigation?"

"Uh, that would be me, Sally, and Sarah Linh."

"Alright, at least someone on the team has a decent brain."

"Will you come?" Lestrade asks impatiently, his Pokémon growling with the same feeling.

"I'll be right behind."

"Thank you," and with that, the inspector and his Pokémon leave the room in a hurry.

Just as they left, Sherlock jumps-up for joy and twirls around the room like a child on Christmas morning, "Brilliant! Yes! Oh, four serial killings, and now a note and a missing Pokémon. Ah, it must be Christmas." He turns to his Pokémon and kneels down to give it a slight hug, "And you were right once again! That's number 54!" Absol grins slightly, but keeps its stoic façade as it follows its trainer. Sherlock grabs his coat, one of his scarves in the pile by the closet, and a small leather pouch before yelling to Mrs. Hudson, "Mrs. Hudson, I'll be late. Might need some food. Something cold will do. John, have a cup of tea, make yourself at home. Don't wait up!"

"I'm your landlady, dear, not your housekeeper," Mrs. Hudson yells back in reply. She then turns back to John, who has been sitting there and observing the entire exchange in silence and slight amusement, "Look at him, dashing about!  _My_  husband was just the same." John then grimaces again at the implication, and he swore he heard a huffing/laughing sound come from his Arcanine. "But you're more the sitting-down type, I can tell. Let me make you that cuppa. You rest your leg."

" _Damn_  my leg!" John suddenly yells, shocking Mrs. Hudson and her Pokémon, even making Chansey hide behind the woman in fright. Even his own Pokémon is shocked at his quick and strange response, "Sorry, I'm so sorry. It's just sometimes this bloody thing ..." He gestures using his cane to his leg to prove his point.

Mrs. Hudson smiles kindly at the man and gestures to her own hip, "I understand, dear. I've got a hip."

"Cup of tea'd be lovely, thank you."

"Just this once, dear. I'm not your housekeeper," Mrs. Hudson says sternly as she heads to the kitchen, both her Pokémon following her. Arcanine then calls out to Gothitelle, and the Pokémon nods in understanding.

"Couple of biscuits too, if you've got 'em."

"Not your housekeeper!"

John notices the newspaper and decides to have a look at it. Arcanine notices and sits-up to glance at it as well. Together, they both go through the articles on the recent suicides/murders and the investigation being led into the serial killings. John also notices that the inspector in charge of the investigation is the same man that was just there. Further reading is interrupted by the detective himself, who had stepped back into the room.

"You're a doctor. In fact, you're an Army doctor," Sherlock states as a statement rather than a question.

"Yes," John answers as he gets to his feet, his Arcanine there to support him.

"Any good?"

" _Very_  good," John states slightly more confident.

"Seen a lot of injuries then. Violent deaths. And a bit of trouble too, I bet," Sherlock states once again as a statement rather than a question.

Quietly, John responds, "Of course. Enough for a lifetime."

"Wanna see some more?" the detective asks nonchalantly.

And John responds quickly and fervently, "Oh by _Arceus_ , yes."

With that, Arcanine springs to its feet, and the trio head to the landing where Absol is waiting. Together, the group heads downstairs, John calling to Mrs. Hudson, "Sorry Mrs. Hudson. I'll skip the tea!"

"Both of you?" the poor woman asks as she enters the front foyer, both Gothitelle and Chansey peeking in from the door.

"Impossible suicides? Four of them? There's no point sitting at home when there's finally something  _fun_  going on!" Sherlock answers her as he gives her a hug and two loud kisses on both her cheeks.

"Look at you, all happy. It's not decent," but even she could not help but smile at how gleeful Sherlock looks as he heads to the door.

 _"_ Who cares about decent? The game, Mrs. Hudson, is on!" And with that, both men and their Pokémon head outside, and Sherlock hails for a cab. The good thing is that the cab is slightly larger to transport larger Pokémon as well, so after Sherlock and Absol get in, John and Arcanine had no trouble fitting into the cab. And off they go to Brixton.

The ride is mostly filled with silence as Sherlock continues to glance at his phone, and Absol stares out the window with glazed eyes. Arcanine continues its observance of the pair in front of it as it lies on the seat opposite to them, while John begins to feel anxious and steals some nervous glances to the man next to him. He could help but wonder what the heck he got himself into, and Sherlock must have sensed it.

"Okay, you've got questions."

"Yeah, where are we going?"

"Crime scene. Next?" the man answers briskly, keeping his eyes on his phone.

"Who are you? What do you do?"

"What do you think?"

Slowly and hesitantly, he says, "I'd say private detective ..."

"But?"

"... but the police don't go to private detectives."

"I'm a  _consulting_  detective," Sherlock clarifies, "Only one in the world. I invented the job."

"What do you do then?"

"What I do is that whenever the police are out of their depth - which is always - they consult me. I'm also the only one in all of London to have an Absol with an impeccable history for detecting coming disasters."

John understands that Absols are truly rare, so it is understandable that not everyone can get one; however, "The police don't consult amateurs."

Sherlock gives John a look, "When I met you for the first time yesterday, I said, 'Afghanistan or Iraq?' You looked surprised."

"Yes, how  _did_  you know?"

Sherlock then proceeds to explain everything to John; commenting on how he noticed his military status based on his earlier encounter, and how he knows about his brother's drinking problem and marital status based on his phone.

"As for your Arcanine, it's obviously been in the military with you. Since we met, your Arcanine has always kept its eyes peeled and is constantly observing its surrounding as well as people, like right now. However, Growlithes and Arcanines are rare and are too expensive for the military to supply to troops. So the only other possibility is that it came with you, and it obviously trusts you enough and you it, so that you let it roam free from its pokeball even if it is inconvenient. So you both have been together for a long time, long enough that it knows your habits and knows what you need and don't, like when it told Mrs. Hudson's Gothitelle how you like your tea."

"And the fact that it came from a family friend?"

"As I said, Growlithes and Arcanines are rare and expensive, so a small family that cannot even help each other when one needs a place to live, obviously tells me that your Arcanine came from somewhere else. A family friend is a more likely possibility since it showed no signs of early neglect or bad treatment in order for it to be an abandoned Pokémon," Sherlock pauses for a moment and looks out the window, "And there, you were right. The police don't consult amateurs."

Silence once again fills the car, as both Arcanine and John gape in awe, and Sherlock waits for their reaction. Absol could not help but smirk at the sight. Once John is able to form words, "That was…amazing."

This surprised Sherlock enough so that it made him slightly speechless, which is new for him, "You think so?"

"Yes. That was absolutely extraordinary! Just amazing." Arcanine nods its head in agreement and gives Sherlock a wide, toothy grin.

"Hmm. That's not what people normally say."

"What  _do_  they normally say?"

"'Piss off.'" both men and Pokémon giggling/huffing with amusement. The rest of the ride was done in silence, but it was a comfortable one.

* * *

A few minutes later

Once they reach the crime scene, the group exits the cab to find the place teeming with police and investigation teams and blocked off with police tape. Watchogs and other Pokémon also teem the place, guarding it from prying eyes. Once Sherlock pays the cabbie, the group walks towards the scene.

"Did I get anything wrong?" Sherlock asks out of the blue, keeping his eyes on the scene in front of him.

"Harry and I don't get along, never have. Clara and Harry split-up three months ago, and they're getting a divorce; and Harry is a drinker," a huff from Arcanine makes John give his Pokémon a  _'don't worry, I did not forget you'_  look, "And Harry was jealous that I received Growlithe from a family friend, who at the time, had 'contacts' with a well-known breeder."

Sherlock could not help but look a little smug at himself, "Spot on, then. I didn't expect to be right about everything."

"And Harry is short for Harriet." John could not hold back a small, satisfied smile as Sherlock pauses in his track, his mind reeling and fixing the error.

"Harry's your sister."

"Look, what exactly am I supposed to be doing here?" John asks, ignoring the last statement and continuing on as they arrive at the blocked off area.

" _Sister!"_ Sherlock mutters angrily at himself. His Absol even gives him a light nudge on the leg to get his focus back on the case.

"No, seriously, what am I doing here?" But Sherlock only continues to mutter to himself as he walks on towards the police tape.

"Ah! Mr. Holmes! So good to see ya again," Sarah exclaims sarcastically with a wide smile as the group arrives at the police tape. Her Axew is also with her in her arms, and a Flareon, who John believes is hers, is at her feet. She then glances over at John and gives him a kinder smile that he returns bashfully, "And uh… you're John Watson right? I heard about you from Mike."

"Cut the formalities, Sarah. It's obvious that you are pissed-off right now," Sherlock says with a roll of his eyes, "Most likely because you were about to go on a date…no, the date was going really fine for you, though I doubt it would last for long…"

What surprised John next is that instead of calling him off or being angry at the man, the petite woman just looks up and smirks nonchalantly, "I know. But he was  _very_  nice… not my type but  _nice._ " He is then further surprised when the woman looks at Sherlock up and down and comments, "And I see that you had paid a visit to your new flat right after a visit to NSY, most likely to finish that murder case Lestrade gave you yesterday. I also believe that this gentleman here is sharing the flat with you."

John continues to stare at her in slight awe and wonders if every detective in London can just deduce people like this; however, Sherlock did not seem as surprised, "I see that you have improved…"

"Why thank-you," is her curt reply, and she did not break eye contact. John did, however, notice that her smile grew just a touch.

"How did you know?" John asks, making both detectives turn and look at him and his equally confused Pokémon, Sarah with a raised eyebrow.

"Simple really, I was about to be given the case, but when I went to work this morning…it was magically solved by none other than Mr. Holmes here…"

"I told you to call me Sherlock."

"But I just want to annoy you, that's all," Sarah mockingly pouts, before going back to her analysis, "You went to visit your flat because your scarf is different from the one you were wearing when you came in this morning, suggesting that you changed it, and I'm sure that I heard that you were moving to a new flat… _with_  a possible flatmate, which I assume is this man since you don't associate yourself with many people I don't know or random people off the street. So you know a lot about John even though you just met him, suggesting that he is your new flatmate. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're not." Sherlock says with a slight smirk, "Though I do believe there is more."

"More?" John asks, still confused over what just happened.

Sarah just shrugs a little, "It helps that there are things called security cameras and traffic cams…"

"Of course," Sherlock says without any surprise, "Though I am curious as to why a special investigator would be looking through security and traffic cameras without a case to go with it."

This makes Sarah pause for a bit, and her smug smile fell for a moment. Both her Pokémon also seem to tense for a split moment before they all revert back to their normal stance. Both John and Arcanine notice this, the former about to comment on it when…

"Hello freak!" another voice calls out, making the group turn to Detective Sally Donovan as she makes her way to them, her Furfrou in tow. Sarah rolls her eyes at the woman.

"I'm here to see Detective Inspector Lestrade," Sherlock says, getting back to business.

"Don't get your panties in a twist Sally," Sarah says holding out her hands to stop the coming woman, "Lestrade invited him, so let's let them in."

"Well, you know what  _I_  think, don't you?" Sally says to both Sherlock and Sally, the latter whom just rolls her eyes in annoyance.

Sherlock, meanwhile, simply ducks underneath the police tape, Furfrou growling at him, but a glance from Absol stops it, "Always, Sally." Then, he sniffs the air around the female detective,  _"_ You didn't make it home last night."

"I don't ..." she started but then stops when she notices John and Arcanine also ducking underneath the police tape, "Er, who's this?"

Before Sarah can answer, Sherlock says, "Colleague of mine, Doctor Watson," and then goes to introduce the doctor to Sally.

"A colleague? How did  _you_  get a colleague?!" Sally asks in confusion and disbelief.

Sarah scoffs, "I know. Even I have a hard time believing that."

Sally gives John a once over and smirks as she turns to Sherlock, "What, did he follow you home?"

John is starting to become uncomfortable and no doubt feels left out as the group talked, "Would it be better if we just waited and ..." A quick 'no' from Sherlock is all he needed to hear, and without another word, moves to stand by Sarah and Sherlock as the group heads to the crime scene.

Sally radios Lestrade, "Freak's here with company. Bringing him in."

The group walks towards the average looking building, and John could not help but wonder how such an average, innocent looking place can hide such a tragic crime. A whine from Arcanine makes him snap out of his stupor, and he pats his Pokémon while also holding onto it for support.

Upon the group's arrival at the house, Anderson, the M.E., steps out of the building wearing a protective cover-all. Dressed in a similar fashion, his Gallade appears at the doorway, clipboard in its hands.

 _"_ Ah, Anderson. Here we are again," Sherlock says sarcastically.

But Anderson is having none of it, "It's a crime scene. I don't want it contaminated or disturbed by you or your Pokémon. Are we clear on that?"

"Quite clear," Sherlock states as he walks briskly to the door, but then turns around quickly and asks, "And is your wife away for long?"

The ME scoffs, "Oh, don't pretend you worked that out. Somebody told you that."

"Your deodorant told me that," Sherlock says while taking a small sniff, and grimacing.

"My deodorant?"

"It's for men."

"Well, of  _course_  it's for men!  _I'm_  wearing it!"

"But so is Sergeant Donovan."

Anderson looks over at Sally, and the woman looks away in embarrassment. He then quickly turns to Sherlock and gets up in his face, "Now hold on a moment there…if you are implying…I will  _unleash_  my Granbull on you…"

"Okay, okay now ladies," Sarah gets in between the two and shoves them apart, "Remember,  _we_  have a  _murder_  to solve. So how about we get things moving 'kay?" She then turns to Sherlock, "Come on in, and do shut-up."

But of course, Sherlock could not keep his mouth shut for one moment, "I'm not implying  _anything,_ " he then heads through the front door and passes Sally on the way, "I'm sure Sally came round for a nice little chat, and just happened to stay over. And I assume she scrubbed your floors, going by the state of her knees." This left both Sally and Anderson staring at the detective in horror while he smirks and disappears inside with Absol.

Back outside, Sarah clicks her tongue and turns to smirk at the two embarrassed officers, "Well, I saw that coming, but really Sally? Anderson?"

This, of course, makes the two glare at the special investigator, especially Anderson who growls a little. But she ignores them. John then decides to head in as well, but before he and Arcanine can go in, Sarah stopped him, "Woah there. The room is pretty small, and I don't think it's a good idea to bring Arcanine in. He might disturb the crime scene."

John just lets out a small 'oh' and looks at his Pokémon, wondering what he should do. He could just place it back in its pokeball, but it's been a long time and…it just doesn't feel right. Sarah sees both John's and Arcanine's discomfort and looks to her Flareon, "Hey Flareon, do you think you can accompany Arcanine?"

"Flare!" it chirps before going over to the much bigger fire Pokémon. But it doesn't seem at all perturbed as it looks-up, and both tilt their heads at each other. With another chirp, it heads-off away from the building. Arcanine looks at John for a moment, not sure what to do, but a nod from John reassures it, and it follows the smaller Pokémon.

After making sure that Arcanine would be alright, John turns around and heads inside, but not before glancing at Sally's knees in curiosity. Sarah rolls her eyes and shoves him in using one hand. As he heads inside, he spots Sherlock talking to a man in a similar cover-all that Anderson and his Gallade wore and realizes that it is Lestrade. But this time, he is without his Mightyena.

Once John reaches them, Sherlock points to a similar suit, "You need to wear one of these."

"Who's this?" Lestrade asks once he notices John.

"He's with me."

"But who  _is_  he?"

"I  _said_  he's with me," and that signaled to Lestrade to be quiet.

As John puts on his cover-all along with Sarah and Axew, he points to Sherlock and is about to ask if he is going to put one on as well. A stern look from Sherlock is all he needs to know to not ask.

"So where are we?" Sherlock asks the Detective Inspector.

"Upstairs."

After a minute of climbing the stairs to the top floor - a few more for John due to his limp - the group manages to reach the room where the body is found. On the way, Lestrade updates both John and Sherlock as to how the body of the victim named Jennifer Wilson was found and what they were able to find out, along with warning that they only have two minutes.

Upon entering the room, John can see that aside from a few pieces of clutter and some portable lights, the room is bare. In the center of the room lies the body of a middle-aged woman clad in pink from head to toes and lying on her stomach. John immediately flashes back to his time in the war and remembers finding a woman in a similar position in her home. Snapping out of his memory by a hand placed on his shoulder, which he realizes belongs to a sympathetic-looking Sarah, he nods to reassure her that he is fine, though he wished that his Pokémon is with him.

Wasting no time, Sherlock started his examination of the body: feeling her coat, using his magnifying glass to look at her fingertips, all the while taking mental notes in his mind. Absol helped by using its psychic to move/lift parts of the body for Sherlock to examine. Sarah kneels down near the body as well, making sure to at least stay out of the detective's way, and makes her own observations. While the two do their thing, John looks over to the woman from afar and sees the supposed 'note' that she left behind in her dying breath. Carved into the floor, most likely by her nails, is the word 'Rache', which honestly could mean anything. The note is near the woman's left hand, while on her right hand is a pokeball. At the sight of the object, John turns his gaze around to try to find her Pokémon, only to spot a small splatter of blood near the body, but tiny footprints in the dust leading out of the room.

Suddenly, Sherlock just straightens up and yells, "Shut up!"

"No one was talking," Lestrade says in confusion.

"Yes, but you were thinking, and it's annoying." The other man takes that as an insult, and his face shows his annoyance. The others in the room, however, chuckle at the poor man's expense.

After a few more moments of silence, Sherlock once again straightens up, takes off his gloves and straightens his famous Belstaff, and goes on his phone. Once the body is placed neatly back in place, Absol heads to a corner and sits calmly as it waits for Sherlock. Sarah remains on the floor though, but she does turn her gaze up at the standing man.

"Did you find anything?" both Lestrade and Sarah ask hopefully.

"Not much," Sherlock replies nonchalantly without looking at either of them.

"She's German you know?" the group turns to find Anderson leaning casually on the door frame, "'Rache' is revenge in German…"

"Yes yes yes, thank-you  _so_  much for that input," Sherlock replies sarcastically while slamming the door in the ME's face before going back to his phone to check the weather. Afterwards, Lestrade asks Sherlock if the woman was German, and thus leads to a discussion by the men in the room over what Sherlock was able to find out from her body. Then, Sherlock asks John for his opinion, and Lestrade leaves the room to tell the others to give the group more time.

Slowly and haltingly, John kneels on the ground on the right side of the body, opposite from Sarah and her Axew who both seem to still be in their own little world. Sherlock also kneels down right next to him, "Well?"

"What am I doing here?" John decides to ask instead.

"Helping me make a point."

"I'm supposed to be helping you pay the rent."

"Yeah, well, this is more fun."

"Fun? There's a woman lying dead," John says in exasperation, making Sarah chuckle from her spot.

"Perfectly sound analysis, but I  _was_  hoping you'd go deeper." So John makes his observations of the body. The observations, however, weren't anything special, and it was quite obvious in Sarah's opinion. But it is Sherlock who voiced it.

Suddenly, Lestrade comes in and demands to know what Sherlock has found out. This time his Mightyena is accompanying him in hopes of possibly intimidating them, but that didn't work. Glancing down at Sarah, and Sarah glancing at him for a moment, the two exchange a nod before Sherlock goes into his findings/observations and deductions. During his speech, he mentions a suitcase, which confuses both John and Lestrade since there wasn't a suitcase lying around. Sherlock also mentions that the woman only has one Pokémon and that it is indeed, still alive.

Meanwhile, back on the floor, Sarah and Axew continue their own observations, matching those they have already made with what Sherlock is going off on. "Wow, I did not expect to make so many on-point observations," Sarah whispers to Axew excitedly, though she did, however, miss the part about the suitcase.

Axew then bounds over to the left hand of the woman, the one that wrote the note, pointing at it, "Xew. Ax ax."

"Oh, I see."

Back with the group of men, once Sherlock finished and showed them his phone, John could not help but exclaim once again, "That's fantastic!" The detective gives John a look, which he misinterprets, "Sorry. I'll shut up."

"No, it's ... fine."

"Why d'you keep saying suitcase? And what about her Pokémon?" Lestrade asks the question on everyone's minds.

At that, Sherlock quickly scans the room, "Yes, where are they? She must have also had a phone or an organizer. Find out who Rachel is."

"She was writing 'Rachel'?" Lestrade asks totally confused, making both Sherlock and Sarah roll their eyes.

"No, she was leaving an angry note in German! Of course she was writing Rachel. Question is: why did she wait until she was dying to write it?"

"He's right though," Sarah says, drawing both John and Lestrade's attention to her for a moment from the ranting detective, who is currently looking around the room with the help of Absol, "It's a small detail, but Axew pointed out that after the 'e', the hand is raised a bit and pressed down as if the woman is about to continue before dying. Now, if she were to just stop, why waste the last of one's living energy to shift the hand upward with no purpose to it. So it does make sense."

"But, couldn't it just be any other word that starts with 'Rache'?"

"What other word?" Sherlock asks exasperated, "Name a single other word that would start in a similar fashion. Now, what did you do with the case and/or the Pokémon?"

"There was no case. And like I mentioned before, the woman's Pokémon is nowhere to be found."

Slowly, Sherlock raises his head and frowns at Lestrade, "Say that again."

"There wasn't a case. There was never any suitcase, and the Pokémon is nowhere..."

Immediately, as if struck by a Thunderbolt, Sherlock jumps-up and runs out the door much to the shock of his companions, closely followed by a much calmer Absol. He begins shouting at the police officers canvassing the area to find the suitcase and a wandering, most likely injured, Pokémon.

"Sherlock, there was no case! And we've already canvassed the area for the Pokémon!" Lestrade yells at the man from the top of the staircase.

"It's murder, all of them," Sherlock states definitively, continuing his descent while ignoring the man. "I don't know how, but they're not just suicides, they're killings –  _serial_  killings," he could not hold in his glee as he danced – yes, danced - down the stairs, "We've got ourselves a serial killer. I  _love_  those. There's always something to look forward to."

"Why are you saying that?" Lestrade yells down. While all of that was going on, John got to his feet with the help of Sarah and the two, including Axew, head to the landing next to Lestrade.

"Her case!" Sherlock yells back up, "Come on, where is her case? Did she eat it along with her Pokémon?! Someone else was here, and they took her case…" Then, an idea strikes him and he mutters to himself, but is within the hearing range of Absol, "So the killer must have driven her here; forgot the case was in the car. The injured Pokémon must've not been killed and tried to follow."

"She could have checked into a hotel, left her case there," John suggests.

"But that doesn't add up, and what about the Pokémon?" Sarah points out aloud, worried for the life of the little creature.

"Of course she never got to the hotel. Look at her hair. She color-coordinates her lipstick and her shoes. She'd never have left any hotel with her hair still looking ..."

The world's only consulting detective pauses in his tracks and holds his hands to his mouth in realization. Ignoring the questions fired at him by the confused people above him, he begins to mutter to himself once again, the only one hearing him is Absol, "Serial killers are always hard. You have to wait for them to make a mistake." Absol grunts in agreement. Further ignoring the people above him, Sherlock hurries down the stairs, "Look at her, really  _look_! Houston, we  _have_  a mistake. Get on to Cardiff, find out who Jennifer Wilson's family and friends were. Find Rachel and find that Pokémon!" With that, he disappears from view.

"Of course, yeah – but what mistake?!" Lestrade yells after the eccentric man.

Sherlock suddenly comes back into view, " _PINK!"_

And with that, he and his Pokémon are off once again, leaving an agitated Lestrade grunting and muttering in frustration before going back into the room. Anderson and his waiting team decided to then move into the crime scene. Before he enters the room though, Anderson passes a disgruntled look at both John and Sarah.

"Well, I've gotten what I need," Sarah says, with a confirming shake of her head. She looks over sympathetically at John, who is still rooted on the spot trying to process everything, "Let me help you down."

Too tired to protest, John nods, and the trio makes the slow descent down the stairs. The late hour has taken its tow on everyone, and it is made more obvious when Axew falls asleep on their way down. There was also a small bump in with some police officers, but there was no harm done. Eventually, the trio makes it downstairs where they remove their cover-alls and put on their regular clothes. Once they exit the building, they are greeted by their Pokémon: Arcanine running up and licking John's face, and Flareon jumping into Sarah's free arm and nuzzling her.

"You sure do have a strong connection with your Pokémon," Sarah comments once Flareon jumps back down and stays by her feet.

"Yea," John then looks around, no doubt looking for Sherlock.

Seeing his obvious discomfort, Sarah offers kindly, "If you want, I can walk you to…" she drifts off, but John gets the idea.

"Sure, unless you're too tired…"

"Nah, I still have some work to do anyway," Sarah then looks down at her sleeping Axew lovingly, "Axew will be fine too. Once it's asleep, nothing short of an explosion can wake it up."

Nodding, John heads over to the perimeter of the crime area, followed by Arcanine, Sarah, and her Pokémon.

"Hey, I just want to apologize if in any way I'm making you uncomfortable, or…" Sarah starts once the silence feels awkward again.

"It's fine," John says quickly in hopes of avoiding the matter, "Where is Sherlock anyway?"

 _"_ He's gone," Sally replies when she heard John's question, having been on perimeter duty with her Furfrou, "He took off. He does that, and it didn't look like he is coming back."

Sarah sighs in exasperation, sensing where her female co-worker is going, "Sally. Don't."

"Don't what? Warn the man about Sherlock," ignoring Sarah's blatant signals to stop, "Didn't he once left you on that island after investigating a possible connection to the murder case you were working on together? And didn't you say, or mostly complain, that you refuse to work with him again if it involves traveling together…"

"Alright, I think we heard enough," the flustered woman says quickly, much to the disappointment of a curious John Watson. "How about, I help you get to the main road where you can then hail a taxi."

John and Arcanine look at the woman suspiciously for a moment, but decide to comply, "Right. Sure."

Sally lifts the tape for the group to go under and leave, each thanking her in turn. But before they could leave, Sally asks John specifically, "You're not his friend. So who  _are_ you?"

"I'm ... I'm nobody. I just met him," John stutters as he turns back to the woman, making the rest of the group stop and turn around as well.

"Okay, a bit of advice then, for both of you," Sally says to both John and Sarah, "stay away from that guy."

Sarah just rolls her eyes having heard the same warning before, but John had to ask, "Why?"

"Sarah knows, she should have told you. You know why he's here? He's not paid or anything. He  _likes_  it. He gets off on it. The weirder the crime, the more he gets off. He even claims to have an Absol that can predict coming disasters with 100% accuracy, and yet he never does warn the people or the police. He just lets it happen for his own enjoyment. Both for him and his Pokémon, and you know what…?"

Sarah doesn't say anything, and her face remains unreadable and emotionless. John glances over and is curious at the woman's sudden lack of protest, but it does further pique his curiosity at what Sally has left to say.

Sally must have sensed it, and continues, "One day just showing up won't be enough. One day we'll be standing round a body and Sherlock Holmes'll be the one that put it there."

"Why would he do that?" both John and Sarah ask, the latter being more sarcastic.

" _Because_  he's a psychopath. And psychopaths get bored." Lestrade then calls out to Sally to tell her to come in, and she waves him back before turning to the duo, "Stay away from Sherlock Holmes. Both of you." And with that, the female detective leaves the group, but not before giving Sarah a final, sincere look.

Both John and Sarah look at the retreating back of Sally for a moment before Sarah turns around and heads to the main road, prompting John, Arcanine, and Flareon to follow. The group walked in silence up the street, and John couldn't help himself but steal some glances at the silent woman accompanying him. "Okay, out with it. What is your question?"

Embarrassed for getting caught again – seriously, he was a trained soldier for crying out loud – he turns to face another direction. He wants to ask about what all of  _that_  was about, but decides to ease into the conversation and calm the tense woman up, "You and Sherlock, are you…"

"Are we what?" She snaps, but seeing the shocked faces of John and Arcanine, she takes a deep breath and calms herself, "It's okay, just say it."

"I don't know…are you a couple or some…"

Sarah lets out a sigh but the corner of her mouth lifts a little, "Why'd ya ask? Jealous?"

"No. I'm just curious about my new flatmate, that's all," John says quickly but confidently.

This makes Sarah smirk even more, "Nice comeback. And don't worry, you're not the first to ask." Afterwards, she lets out an exasperated sigh, "But if you must know, no, we are not an item. God save the Queen if I ever fall for that bastard." The way she said it though, there was no malicious intent or any mean-spirit meaning behind it. It was almost joking in a way. So based on this, their earlier interactions, and her disregard of Sally's warnings, John guessed that the woman and Sherlock are close…but not intimate. Sarah then adds with a chuckle, "It really irks me you know? That just because I hang out with the man a lot, I can almost compete with him intellectually, and he treats me a bit differently during a case, it means that we are, or should be, a couple."

"So what are you?"

There is a pause as Sarah contemplates her answer, "Sherlock may deny this, but I am one of the very few people he would consider an acquaintance, or in his words, 'an intellectually-competent person'. The only other person he holds with higher regards is Molly, but no surprise there."

"Why is that?"

"I'll leave that to you to find out."

Another bout of silence overtakes the two as John thinks about what the woman said. Flareon then lets out a big, yet cute, yawn and then jumps onto Arcanine's back to rest on. Sarah motions for its pokeball, but both John and Arcanine signal that it is fine.

After another few moments, John asks her about her earlier behavior, at which Sarah seems to physically deflate, "Yea…I should have seen this coming. But I guess it is because I hold such great respect for Sherlock that when others insult him or bring him down, I just really want to defend him. Sally does, however, bring up some good points, but I tend to ignore them. You know… it was almost frightening how fast the man earned my respect."

"How did he do it?" This piques both John's and Arcanine's interest, and both listen with rapid attention.

"Let's just say, when I first transferred to New Scotland Yard, he knocked me down a few pegs and left me eating his dust during our first joint investigation. He had my respect from then on, and I even picked up a few things. So now, I help him with some cases, and he gives me tips."

John felt as if there is much more to the story than that, but he decides to respect the woman's privacy. Besides, he is still curious about the 'consulting' detective. "I'm guessing you understand him more than anyone else then, right? So tell me, who  _is_  Sherlock Holmes?"

Sarah pauses for a moment and seems to really contemplate her answer, "Hmmm…who  _is_  Sherlock Holmes? Huh…I'll tell you this: the man leaves a different impression on different people, so I would suggest that you find out for yourself. Which is also why I didn't want Sally to tell you all those things, because I want you to judge Sherlock yourself, instead of asking others.

"But to answer your question, I believe that indeed, Sherlock is a complicated person." A nod from John prompts the woman to continue, "You must understand that he is a very hard person to...get to know, but once you do...he might surprise you."

"How so?"

Sarah chuckles for a bit, "You'll see." She then stops and turns to John, grasping one of his shoulders with her free hand, "But listen though, I'll give Sally this, aside from his Pokémon, Sherlock does not have  _friends_. But that's because he doesn't trust people that often. Either because he believes no one is smart enough to be trusted or he has trouble keeping people close. To be honest, I don't know. But I do believe that you can become his friend, he obviously trusts you."

"How do you know  _that_ ," John says in disbelief.

"Because in all my years of knowing that dude, he has always been a loner and all of a sudden he decides to get a flatmate?"

"I'm just here to help pay the rent," John repeats himself.

"And yet, he takes you to a police crime scene and asks for your opinion when he has an entire professional team at his disposal as well as the Internet for medical advice." This left John speechless as he considers her words. Grinning in satisfaction, Sarah turns and heads back to the main road.

Once regaining his composure, John rushes back to Sarah's side, or at least as fast as his limp can take him, "What do you want me to do then?"

"I'm not asking you to do anything other than what you have been doing. Be his friend John, I know you have it in you to befriend him."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why should I?"

Sarah gives John a cryptic look, "because I have a feeling that he needs a friend now more than ever, and you can be that friend. Let me put things into perspective...it took Sherlock nearly a year to trust me enough to ask for my opinion in a crime scene, especially after our horrific first case together."

This surprised John, especially since it took Sherlock only roughly a day to ask him. A complete stranger. He snaps out of his thoughts at the sound of a loud ' _honk'_  of a horn, signaling that they have finally reached the main road. On the sidewalk of the intersection, Sarah stops and turns to John, who is gazing at the brightly lit buildings along the street, his Arcanine following his gaze.

"Well, this is where I leave you."

"Okay. Thanks for your help." John's phone rings for a moment, signaling that he has received a text. Not wanting to seem rude, John doesn't pick it up, and Sarah doesn't seem to notice.

"No problem." She then reaches into her pocket and takes out a card, "If you need anything, give me a call. So until next time. Come on Flareon." The small Pokémon hops happily from Arcanine's back before Sarah whips out its pokeball and calls it back. With a parting wave, Sarah disappears back down the street they came from.

Once the female detective is out of sight, John draws his focus towards his phone, finding the text, 'Come to Baker St. at once. It's urgent and can be dangerous. SH'. John is now slightly worried and focuses on finding a taxi. While they are doing so, John feels a prickling on his neck, similar to the feeling of being watched. Arcanine must have felt the same way and also seems to be feeling unease. They both look up and down the street and all around, pretending to be tourists, but see nothing.

They eventually manage to flag down a cab and got in. However, it may just be his paranoia, but he swore he saw a traffic camera move with him for a moment as he got in. Once in the cab, John makes a split-second decision to head back to his flat first.

Later, as John enters his old flat, he goes towards his desk and opens the drawer, taking out his pistol. Checking the clip, he tucks the gun into the back of the waistband of his jeans and turns to leave again. He then fingers his pokeballs on his belt and smirks. Yep, this is going to be something both he and his Pokémon are going to have to face together.

* * *

Later on…

At the front door of 221B Baker Street, both John and Arcanine enter the building and head upstairs to their now shared flat with Sherlock Holmes. As they head upstairs, they kept their senses peeled for any signs of trouble. As they draw closer to the door to the living room, both tense up to prepare for what they will find.

However, upon their entrance, they find that Sherlock is lying stretched out on the sofa and resting on a cushion with his jacket off. He has his eyes closed and his hands steeple underneath his chin. After a few seconds, he lets out a loud sigh.

John gives the man an incredulous look, "What are you doing?"

Sherlock then shows John his arm, covered by three nicotine patches, "Nicotine patch. Helps me think. It's impossible to smoke these days in London."

"Okay, then. So…" But Sherlock remains motionless, keeping his eyes closed. "Why did you call me? I assumed that it is important." Arcanine huffs and lies down in the same place it did earlier. John, instead, looks around the flat to see if there is any danger lurking around and even looks out the window. He can still feel something gazing at him and believes he saw a shadow running down an alleyway across the street. Chalking it up to his paranoia again, John then follows Arcanine's example and sits in his armchair, only then noticing that Absol is nowhere to be found.

"Oh right, yes," Sherlock says as he 'wakes-up', "I need to use your phone. Don't wanna use mine, there's a chance it can be recognized. It was on the website."

John looks at the man indignantly, "Are you…you do know that Mrs. Hudson is right downstairs…and where is…"

"No, she's much too busy right now, so you were the obvious choice."

"I was on the  _other_  side of London!"

"There was no hurry," Sherlock says calmly as he closes his eyes and holds out his hand, palm facing up.

John looks on in disbelief. How is he supposed to become 'friends' with this…this…man? Maybe Sarah got the wrong idea about him or misinterpreted Sherlock's actions. He doesn't know, but he might as well try. So he grabs his phone from his pockets; and since it is obvious that Sherlock isn't getting it, Arcanine picks up its trainer's phone and carries it over to the detective, depositing it in his hands.

Sherlock then clasps his hands together, placing the phone between his palms. After a few moments of silence, John speaks up, "So, any progress on this…case?"

"Her case," he mutters almost to himself, his eyes still shut.

"Her case?"

"Her suitcase, yes, obviously. The murderer took her suitcase. First big mistake. Second, being letting the Pokémon live of course."

"Okay, he took her case, and maybe was fooled by a Pokémon playing dead to protect itself. So?"

Sherlock begins to mutter to himself before handing John his phone, "I need you to send a text, the number is on my desk." Of course, all of John's indignation and protests fall on deaf ears, and he also wonders if he can get away with committing a murder himself. Arcanine once again goes to get the phone and piece of paper from the desk.

With a sigh of resignation, John does as he is told. Looking at the piece of paper, the man is surprised to find that the number of the dead woman is on it. He didn't have time to ask Sherlock about it because he keeps badgering John to enter the number and so he did.

"These words exactly, 'What happened at Lauriston Gardens? I must have blacked out. Twenty-two Northumberland Street. Please come.'" John did just that, but he is very confused as to what Sherlock meant.

While he was composing the text, Sherlock hops up from the couch, leaps over the coffee table, and bounds into the kitchen. "Type and send it. Quickly!" he exclaims. In the kitchen, he picks up a distinct pink suitcase. He brings the suitcase into the living room and places onto the coffee table between John and Sherlock's armchair. Arcanine looks up, notices the suitcase, and tenses up.

"Hurry!"

"Alright alright. There it's sent." John then looks up and from his phone and notices the pink case in front of him, "That's…that's the case, that's the dead woman's case. Why do you have the case?"

"Yes, obviously." Sherlock notices that John is looking at him and the case intently, and Arcanine looks ready to pounce on him, "And no, I did not kill her."

"I never said you did."

"Why not? Given the text I just had you send and the fact that I have her case, it's a perfectly logical assumption."

John chuckles, "Do people usually assume you're the murderer?"

Sherlock smirks, "Now and then, yes. However, and thank God for this, there is at least someone on the force who has a brain and sets the record straight."

"You mean Sarah?"

"No, I meant Gavin…Of course I meant Sarah!"

John nods quickly and with a small, uncertain smile. He then glances nervously at Arcanine, but calms at the sight of his calmer Pokémon, "Okay, so how did you get this? And where is Absol?" he gestures to the case as well as the spot where Absol occupied earlier.

"By looking," Sherlock then goes into a description of how he found the case, deducing that the murderer must have realized his mistake and dumped the case as quickly as he could. He then told John about how he did a little bit of dumpster diving to find the case. "As for Absol, I sent it out to hunt for the Pokémon."

"And you got  _all_  that because you realized the case would be pink?"

"Obviously."

"And Absol is hunting for the Pokémon to lead to the killer."

"Yep."

"Why didn't  _I_  think of that?"

"Because you're an idiot," Sherlock then waves away John's insulted look as well as Arcanine's glare, "Don't give me that look. Practically everyone is." He then focuses back on the case, and decides to test John, "Now, tell me: What is missing?"

"Er…" John glances down at the cluttered suitcase full of the woman's belongings, "How could I know, it's not like I knew her. But hold on…if Absol is hunting for the killer, why aren't we following it?"

Sherlock rolls his eyes at his obvious obliviousness, "Because there could be a chance that the Pokémon has no leads, and there is another theory to test. Besides, Absol hunts better alone. Now back to what I was saying… It's her phone. Where is her mobile? There wasn't one on her body and not one in the case. Nowadays, almost everyone has a mobile, and she had to have been very careful with it given her lifestyle. And you just texted her number. Now the question is: where is the phone?"

"Uh…" John looks on in shock at the man in front of him, "Maybe the Pokémon picked it up?"

Sherlock gives John a look that screams ' _are you serious!',_ "Now why would it do that? Given the size of the room that could barely hold all of  _our_  Pokémon, it would have to mean that hers was relatively small to medium size. It is most likely injured to nearly the point of death, and now it is most likely following its trainer's killer. What, again, is the point…"

"Alright, I got it. So now what? You think that the murderer has it?"

"Either she left her phone when she left her suitcase or the murderer took it. Either way, the balance of probability points to the murderer having the phone."

"So, did I just text a murderer?! What good will  _that_  do?" Then, as if on cue, John's phone begins to ring, and he is shocked to find the woman's phone calling him. John looks up at Sherlock in shock, but the detective kept his eyes on the suitcase, looking as stoic as ever.

"A few hours after his last victim, and now he receives a text that can only be from her. If somebody had just  _found_  that phone they'd ignore a text like that, but the murderer ..." he pauses dramatically, "would panic." With that, Sherlock snaps the suitcase shut, and strides across the room to his coat and scarf.

"Have you called the police? What about Lestrade? Or Sarah? And Absol?" John asks anxiously.

"Four people are dead. There isn't time to talk to the police. Sarah will hopefully figure things out for herself later, and if I'm right – which I normally am – we will see Absol as well."

"So why are you talking to  _me_?"

"Mrs. Hudson took my skull. And you are doing just fine," Sherlock says quickly as he checks his pockets while also giving John a pointed look.

John did not answer for a while and just stares at Sherlock before asking, "So, you want me to come with you?"

"I think better when I'm talking aloud. Absol and my other Pokémon are great company, but it's good to have someone to actually reply only for me to correct." John made no move to get up, but continues to glare. The detective notices and lets out a sigh, "Problem?"

"Yeah, Sergeant Donovan. She mentioned that you actually get off on this."

"And yet, here you are…after I told you that this would be dangerous." An arrogant smirk later, Sherlock whips his coat and leaves the room.

Arcanine looks up at John just as he glances down at it. "Damn it!" and with that, John stands up and heads to the door.

Out on the streets, John had just managed to catch up to Sherlock. As the group continues their walk, John decides to ask the obvious question in his mind, "Where are we going?"

"Obviously, Northumberland Street. It's a five-minute walk from here."

Both John and Arcanine look at the man in confusion, "You think he's stupid enough to go there?"

However, unexpectedly, Sherlock begins to beam and adds a skip in his steps, "No. I think he's  _brilliant_  enough. I love the brilliant ones. They're always so desperate to get caught."

"Why?"

This time, Sherlock looks at John and Arcanine as if they were the crazy ones, "Appreciation! Applause! At long last the spotlight. That's the frailty of genius, John: it needs an audience." Ignoring the pointed look John is giving him, he continues his rant about the supposed serial killer. He does, however, bring up a good point as that the murderer would have to be someone people trusted even though they are a complete stranger, yet they can blend into the crowd as well.

After a while of contemplating Sherlock's analysis, John came up with nothing, "I got nothing. You?"

But it seems even Sherlock doesn't have a clue, "Haven't the faintest. Hungry?" He gestures to a nearby restaurant and both men and Arcanine enter the quaint establishment. They are then led to a table by a window by a floating Gothorita. The Pokémon seems to have recognized Sherlock as it chirps happily and takes them to the table, promptly removing a 'reserved' card with its psychic powers. Thanking the Pokémon, Sherlock then removes his coat before sitting down. John follows Sherlock's example and settles into his seat opposite of the detective, Arcanine having to remain on the floor.

Sherlock then nods to a building across the street, "22 Northumberland Street. Keep your eyes on it."

"You don't think he's actually just gonna ring the doorbell, though, are you? He'd need to be mad."

"He  _has_  killed four people," Sherlock pointed out as-a-matter-factly.

"Point taken."

Afterwards, the manager of the restaurant arrives at their table and told John about how Sherlock saved him from being convicted of a triple murder charge, much to the indifference and disregard of the detective. During the exchange, the manager, who John learned is named Angelo, keeps glancing at John and insinuating that he is Sherlock's date, much to the man's displeasure. John decided to order food anyway for both him and Arcanine thinking that it is going to be a long wait.

Before leaving the table, Angelo calls over a very small Litwick and places the small Pokémon onto the table. Facing a confused John, the man gives a not-so-subtle wink, "Just to set the mood." Arcanine lets out another huff of breath in laughter, earning it a glare from its trainer. However, seeing the adorable little Litwick trying so hard to please, he didn't have the heart to shoo it away.

John's plate arrives not long after along with Arcanine's bowl of Pokémon food, carried by the same Gothorita from before. Meanwhile, Sherlock's attention remains rooted on the spot on the building across the street.

The silence is growing tedious to John so he might as well ask Sherlock about Sarah, "So…um…I talked to your friend Sarah earlier. She seems like a nice woman."

Sherlock did not look away, but did answer curtly, "If you haven't noticed today, I don't have friends."

"Well, it's just that you both seem close. So who is she?"John is actually curious about this man, and the only other person he seems to interact with positively to.

Sherlock gives John another pointed look briefly before going back to the window, "Just someone with a decent brain in Scotland Yard. Hardly call her a 'friend', more like an…"

"Acquaintance?"

"Intellectually tolerable investigator. Nothing more."

John chuckles, making the detective glare at him. He once again remembers Sarah's words from earlier that night, and decides, ' _eh what the heck,',_ "You know, people usually just call that having a friend."

"Friend?" Sherlock asks almost in a childish ignorance to the concept.

"Yea…you know…people, or Pokémon, who…like to be with you…enjoy one another's company. People also have those they know, like, don't like…boyfriends, girlfriends…"

"Dull," Sherlock states with a humph.

"So Sarah isn't your girlfriend then?" John asks after taking a bite of the surprisingly good food.

Sherlock almost smirks at the notion, "Sarah? Girlfriend? No, not really my area."

"Mm." After a moment, a look of realization at the implication of his statement flashes across John's face, Arcanine mimicking him and then letting out a huff of Pokémon laughter. "Oh right. So do you have a boyfriend, which is fine by the way."

"I know it's fine," Sherlock says finely breaking his gaze away from the window to look at the doctor sharply.

"So you have a boyfriend?"

"No."

"Oh, so you're unattached like me," John gives a small smile before turning back to his food. Sherlock did not miss it, however, and gives John a suspicious look.

"John, um…" Sherlock says after a moment of silence, "You should know that I consider myself married to my work, and while I'm flattered by your interest…I'm not…"

John immediately gets the hint and stops the man, "No, that's not what I meant…no." John fixes his gaze onto Sherlock's in hopes of conveying his sincerity, "I'm just saying it's all fine."

Sherlock gives him a look before turning back to the window, "Thank-you."

As Sherlock keeps his eyes peeled, John just scoffs at himself, wondering what all that was about. He looks over to his Arcanine and the Pokémon glances back, barely hiding its mirth, but turns away at his glare.

At the window, Sherlock still keeps his vigilance on the building. But then, a shudder wracks his body and he closes his eyes momentarily. John notices the shudder and is immediately worried, "Sherlock. Are you okay?"

"Never better," Sherlock then pulls on his coat and strides out of the restaurant, thanking a slightly flustered Gothorita. John shares one look with Arcanine before he gets to his feet as well, and both follow their 'friend's' lead, not realizing that John forgot his walking stick.

Out on the street, John is able to just spot the end of Sherlock's coat as it disappears down an alleyway right next to the restaurant. With a few quick strides, they come to stop in front of the alleyway to find Sherlock kneeling/bending down to look at something, his view obscured by taller man. Upon closer look, John is shocked to find a beaten, bloody, Clefairy barely clinging to consciousness and Absol right by it.

"Is that…"

"Yes," is all Sherlock said, and John knew. The trained doctor in him breaks forth, and he steps to the other side of the fallen Pokémon. It's still alive, but barely, because once he gingerly touched one of its scratched cheeks, it opens one of its eyes, the other swollen shut. It looked at all four of them for a second before turning to look out the alley.

"Fai…" it croaks out, using one of its arms to point to a parked cab and thus drawing the attention of both Sherlock and Absol to it. The cab had not been there before, but it is parked right at the location of the meet and has a passenger in the back seat. The Pokémon then drops its arm, and with a final breath, it closes its eye. John jumps into action, trying to use chest compressions, but with no real Pokémon Center equipment or potions/berries, it is no use. The brave, little Clefairy had died.

In that instance, the cab begins to drive away. Sherlock leaps to his feet, running out of the alleyway to the street and nearly getting hit by a coming car. However, he simply jumps over the front hood, followed closely by Absol.

John knows that there is nothing he could do for the dead Pokémon, so he jumps to his feet as well and rushes out of the alley. Sherlock has paused for a moment in his run on the sidewalk on the other side of the street and begins to go through his mental map of the streets of London, deducing where the cab would go. A bark from Absol snaps him out of his thoughts, but he has a general idea. Hearing the sound of John catching up to him, Sherlock whips out another pokeball and summons the Pokémon inside, "Pidove, follow that cab." As soon as it is summoned, Sherlock gestures to the cab driving away, and it flies after it.

"This way," Sherlock quickly points down another alleyway. Together, both men and their Pokémon race across the street and down the new alley, Absol leading the way, and Arcanine bringing up the rear. One of the alley doors to a building is open, and underneath the lamp is a man smoking. Absol jumps pass the man and heads inside, Sherlock following, leaving a pissed off man yelling at them.

"Sorry!" John apologizes quickly to the befuddled man, before both he and Arcanine head into the building as well. There, they follow Sherlock up a spiraling, tight set of stairs as quickly as they could all the way to the top landing. By the time they burst out the door to the roof, Sherlock is already several ones over, leaping across them like some sort of ninja with his Pokémon.

John begins to run with Arcanine by his side. As they approach the edge, both man and Pokémon share a glance. With a single nod, John leaps onto Arcanine's back and clings onto its mane for dear life. Then, with a burst of dormant energy, Arcanine speeds up and leaps from the building's rooftop to the next, catching up to Sherlock and Absol in no time. They ran, following Sherlock and Absol's lead as they go through the twists and turns atop the roofs of the buildings. As they run and jump from rooftop to rooftop, Sherlock is keeping his eyes peeled for his Pidove while also going through his mental street map. He suddenly stops once he sees Pidove flying towards him, so he climbs onto the fire escape and heads down to the alleyway. Absol is able to easily hop down with Sherlock, but John had to get off and follow them on foot, while Arcanine took the hard-way by hopping from landing to landing of the two opposite fire-escapes, using its claws to slow its descent. Once on the ground, Sherlock turns and sees the cab drive right by them, Pidove calling out to him, "Pidove! Dove!"

"Ah! Keep following it!" Sherlock grunts in frustration before going back to his map as Pidove continues its pursuit. Once he gets a new trajectory, Sherlock rushes to the end of the alley and banks right, the opposite direction the cab was going. John is a little behind the speedy detective, but once he makes it to the ground with Arcanine, they both see the cab pass by and instinctively rush to follow it, not seeing Sherlock and Absol go in the opposite direction.

"John!"

"Sorry!" John yells in embarrassment, before turning around and running towards Sherlock.

Their group runs down a few side streets and alleys, Sherlock planning in his head their route to intercept the cab. Then, at the exact location as planned, their paths meet. Sherlock hurls himself ahead of Absol, and jumps from the side street into the main road, right in front of the cab. The cab screeched to a halt, just before it could hit the detective.

"Police! Open the door!" Sherlock exclaims as he goes to the passenger door in the back, not at all phased at having nearly been hit by a car again.

Panting heavily at the exertion, Sherlock opens the door with Absol ready to attack and stares at the anxious passenger for a moment. He instantly straightens up in exasperation just as John and Arcanine arrive at his side, both panting from the run. "No," is all the detective said to John making the man keel over in both exasperation and tiredness. He then takes a second glance at the man and deduces that he had just arrived from California according to his luggage.

"Eh…Welcome to London," the detective says with a fake smile, having run out of things to say _, "_ It's probably your first trip to London, right, going by your final destination and the route the cabbie was taking you?"

"Sorry – are you guys really the police?" the wary passenger asks as he fingers both his phone and pokeball.

"Yeah," Sherlock flashes a badge for the man to see, but quickly closes it, "Is everything alright?"

"Yea."

"Good, good," afterwards the tall man stands up, but keeps a wary eye on the still confused passenger. Without another word, both he and Absol step away.

John decides to step in and have a closer look, but sees nothing but a confused and pissed-off tourist, "Er…if everything is alright, have a good evening sir." With a small nod, John closes the door before the man can utter another word. Both he and Arcanine rush over to where Sherlock and Absol stood, waiting for the two, "Eh…not the murderer?"

"No."

"But that Clefairy…"

"Obviously delusional…it did just die on the spot."

John is skeptical, and so is Arcanine, but the other pair in their group seems fixated on their conclusion, so he lets it slide, "The poor thing…and all for a cab that just slowed down…"

"Yes…but why?" Sherlock mutters almost to himself. He and Absol then share a moment together, seeming to have their own mental conversation.

John then notices the 'badge' that Sherlock showed the man, which he is now fiddling within his hands, "So…where did you get that?"

Sherlock looks over at John and shows him the badge, "Lestrade's. I pickpocket him whenever he's annoying. I've got plenty at the flat. Sarah also loans them to me whenever I'm undercover, but I never return them."

John chuckles and almost bursts out laughing at their entire ordeal. Even Sherlock and their Pokémon could not help but join in. Their laughter grows even more when Pidove lands atop Sherlock's head, cooing happily after the flight. Sherlock eventually calls it back and thanks it quietly. Then, the entire group notice that a little ways up the street, the cab has pulled over, and the passenger is talking to a policeman while pointing at them.

"We should go," Sherlock says ducking his head away.

"Yea." And off they ran from the scene.

* * *

An hour later…

Back at Baker Street, the two men, plus their Pokémon, have entered the building exhausted from their run back while also avoiding the cops. Both men hang up their coats before leaning against the wall of the hallway, their Pokémon collapsed on the floor.

"Okay, that was ridiculous," John says with a giggle, followed by Sherlock, "That was the most ridiculous thing I've ever done."

"And you invaded Afghanistan."

"That was not me," John giggled before asking, "So why aren't we back at the restaurant? Oh and the Pokémon…"

Sherlock, however, waved his hands dismissively, "Oh, they can keep an eye out. And I already told Angelo about the Clefairy. Its body is being transferred to Bart's most likely right now."

"So why were we there?"

"Oh to pass the time and prove a point."

"What point?"

"About you." The smirking detective then yells loudly to the door in the same hallway, "Mrs. Hudson! Dr. Watson  _will_  be taking the room upstairs, as well as the adjourning sitting room for his Pokémon!"

John was bewildered by the man's proclamation, "Says who?"

"Says the one at the door."

Then - as if by magic - someone knocks on the front door, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. A surprised John looks over at a smirking Sherlock before turning towards the door and opening it. On the other side, John does not see anyone right away and is confused. Arcanine also looks out, but does not see anything.

"Lit!" This makes the duo look down and see none other than the little Litwick from the restaurant. The little Candle Pokémon gives a small happy chirp before lifting John's cane up to him using Psychic, "Litwick litwick!"

John could not believe it. Sure he knows that his leg is almost perfectly fine, but…he had no words. After thanking the Pokémon for bringing back his cane, he closes the door and looks down at his own smirking Pokémon. Arcanine just gives a small shrug before heading back down the hallway, leaving John to hold his cane with his thoughts. Perhaps his condition isn't from the war at all. Could it be possible that he wants to be part of the action again? Be the hero he once was. Is it possible he just wants to feel alive again?

He is brought out of his thoughts by Mrs. Hudson entering the hallway from her flat, followed by an equally worried Gothitelle. To John, the woman is clearly distressed as she speaks to Sherlock, "Oh Sherlock. What have you done?"

"Mrs. Hudson?" Sherlock asks suspiciously while also looking upstairs. Absol isn't as slow and is already running up the stairs. Mrs. Hudson nods to confirm his suspicions, and the detective follows his Pokémon upstairs followed by both John and Arcanine.

When they reach the living room, the group is greeted by the sight of DI Lestrade sitting in Sherlock's armchair, his Mightyena sitting by his side completely still, but smirking toothily at them. All around them are officers and Pokémon rummaging around the flat as if they were looking for something.

"What are you doing?" Sherlock asks the man suspiciously, although it seems as if he has a good idea.

"Well…isn't it obvious, this is a drug bust," Lestrade says almost innocently, both he and his Pokémon standing up to their full height.

Then from the kitchen, Sarah appears with a scowl on her face and a sleeping Axew in her arms, "And I'm telling you, Greg! There is nothing here!" She then turns and notices the two men for the first time, "Sorry Sherlock, I couldn't stop them…"

"Wait wait wait!" John calls out to get everyone's attention, "Are you all serious.  _This_  guy, a junkie?!"

Absol turns to his trainer for a moment before subtly striding over to his spot by the window, Arcanine joining it once it realizes that this situation is going to get awkward. And it did. Sherlock turns to John and whispers, "John…"

But the man didn't seem to notice both Sherlock and Sarah signaling for him to stop, "I mean…I'm pretty sure you could search this flat all day, you wouldn't find anything you could call recreational."

"John! Do shut up!" Sherlock says a little bit louder, making the man pause. His smirk falls once he realizes that Sherlock is dead serious, and Sarah is facepalming.

"No." Sherlock turns away, so John looks over at Sarah, "Him?" which she replies with a tired shrug and rubs her eyes in exhaustion. He then turns from her to Lestrade and then towards Absol, "I…I don't…really?"

Absol gives John a look before turning back to the window. It senses something though. Something is coming, and it might just spell disaster for all of them. But just not yet.

Meanwhile, Sherlock and Lestrade exchange a few words and it is revealed that both Sally and Anderson are also there. They had been in the kitchen the entire time.

"Anderson, what are  _you_  doing here on a drug bust?" Sherlock asks the man once he appears at the archway between the living room and kitchen, his Gallade at his side as well.

"Oh, I volunteered," the man says venomously.

"They  _all_  did," Lestrade says gesturing to everyone, "They're not strictly  _on_  the drugs squad, but they're very keen."

Sherlock and John glance over to Sarah, who looks taken aback and points to herself, "Hey, I was more coerced than 'volunteered'." Sherlock shakes his head and turns back to Lestrade and Anderson, and the three go into a little pissing contest. Sally then appears at the doorway, but seeing the exchange going on, decided to extract herself by looking at the jar her Furfrou found of Magikarp eyeballs.

While this is going on, John strides over to stand by Sarah, who is watching the three grown adults go at each other like children with a tired look on her face, "So…what is  _really_  going on here?"

She turns to face John before turning back to the scene in front of her, "Obviously…this isn't really a drug bust. They just needed a reason to break into your apartment…I mean flat, sorry. Anywho, they found out that Sherlock has the case…actually,  _I_  found out. I saw him going through a garbage pit and pull it out."

"So you told Lestrade?"

Sarah gives John a glare for that, "No. Lestrade figured out that I was coverin' for the guy, most likely since I have done so so many times in the past. And so he coerced me into  _this_ ," she says that last part with a gesture around the room. "But I'm not surprised, he is a detective after all. But basically, this is all a cover."

"So he really isn't a junkie?" John asks, but is met by a look from Sarah that tells him otherwise.

"Hey, if you two are done…" Lestrade yells to both Sarah and John to get their attention before turning back to Sherlock, "We've found Rachel. She is Jennifer Wilson's only daughter."

"Never mind  _that_ ," Anderson exclaims to the group before Sherlock can say anything, "we found the case." He points to the said suitcase to prove his point, "and according to our resident psychopath, the killer is the one that has the case." He looks at Sherlock triumphantly, but he nervously reaches out and clasps one of his pokeball. By his side, Gallade tenses up, "Are we to expect to find Jennifer's injured Pokémon around the corner?"

"Oh, do your research, Anderson! I'm a high functioning  _sociopath_ , not a psychopath!" Sherlock and Anderson then seem to be ready to tear each other apart, but are stopped by a clearly agitated Sarah.

"Guys! Get a grip on yourselves!" Sarah then turns to glare at Anderson her eyes twitching, "And Anderson, just shut the fuck up!"

"Yea, she is always like that when she doesn't sleep," Lestrade whispers to John, who nods and glances at the woman almost nervously.

"Right, and if you want her Pokémon so bad, go to Bart's," the detective gives Anderson one final glare before turning back to Lestrade, "Absol tracked it, and we found it lying in an alleyway moments from death and couldn't save it. Now the daughter, bring her in. I need to speak with her…"

"Uh…She is dead…died 14 years ago. She wasn't even technically alive being Jennifer's stillborn." At this, everyone grimaced and become quiet, except for the resident 'sociopath', "Wait, did the Pokémon lead you to the killer?"

Sherlock begins pacing and muttering so John had to step in and fill in the gaps, "We thought it did, but it turned out to be simply delusions. It was a Clefairy, and very brave too."

"Right," Lestrade says quietly accepting his answer before turning back to the pacing detective.

"No…that's …that's not right. Why would she write her name then? Why?" he continues to pace the room restlessly while the rest of the group looks on in incredulity.

"Why would she think of her daughter in her dying moments?" Anderson asks, chuckling at the absurdity of the man.

"No! Think! She wasn't thinking of her daughter, she couldn't have," Sherlock then speeds up his pace, "She scratched the name on the floor with her fingernails, taking the time and pain to leave this message."

"Maybe she was coerced somehow to take the poison," John offers up to the table, "I mean…the poison was self-administered as you said, so the killer made them do it. Maybe talked to her about her daughter?"

"But  _why_  would she still be affected by it? It did happen 14 years ago." As soon as those words leave his mouth, everyone in the room stops what they were doing and glare at the man. Sherlock notices everyone's intense gazes and turns to look over at Sarah and John, mouthing 'not good?' at which they both nod simultaneously,  _'yes'_.

So he decides to take a different approach and goes up to Sarah, "Okay, if you were dying…if you were murdered, what would you say in your last few seconds?"

"Uh…probably laugh a bit in denial, then pray…" Sarah answers with an unsure shrug.

"Fine, what about you John?" the detective asks turning to the doctor.

"Er… Please God, let me live."

"Oh, both of you, use your imagination!"

"I don't  _have_ to," John utters out with a crack in his voice. Sherlock realizes what he has said, and at least has the decency to look ashamed, but that could not save him from a well placed whack to the back of the head by Sarah. Arcanine senses John's growing distress and strides over to be near him. Absol turns and gives Sherlock a sorta reprimanding glare before once again looking out the window.

"Yeah, but if you were very clever…like Jennifer Wilson," Sherlock begins to pace quickly and is getting more agitated as the seconds tick by, "So what is she telling us?!"

Suddenly, Gothitelle and Mrs. Hudson appear at the door, and the woman lightly knocks. "Sherlock, there's a taxi downstairs for you."

"I didn't order a taxi, go away," Sherlock continues his inner ranting.

"Gothi. Gothitelle," the Pokémon points to the officers still going through the flat.

"Oh, what a mess. What are they looking for?" Mrs. Hudson asks around innocently looking at the group.

"Oh, it's a drug bust Mrs. Hudson," Sarah answers the woman, but not unkindly. John guesses that they must have known each other.

"But, Sarah dear, you know that they're only my herbal soothers for my hip…"

"EVERYONE! JUST SHUT-UP!" Sherlock screams, his back to everyone, "don't move, don't speak, don't even breathe. Anderson look away, you're putting me off."

Everyone just stood there, but complied at the nod from both Sarah and Lestrade, much to the dismay of Anderson. Silence fills the room almost instantly and no one dared to move, not even the Pokémon. Sherlock continues his pacing and mutters to himself, "Come on think!"

"But Sherlock, what about your taxi," Mrs. Hudson asks quickly, but is met with a loud yell from Sherlock that sends both her and her frazzled Pokémon out the door.

Sherlock then freezes in his step and smiles, signaling that he has finally figured something out. He turns to Sarah and grasps the shocked woman's shoulders, "Of course." He lets out a small chuckle before letting go and whirling around the room heading to his desk.

Sarah, John, and everyone else in the room looks to the man confused, but it is the two that voiced the question on everyone's mind, "Of course, what?"

Sherlock looks up at them with a bewildered look, "Don't you  _see_! Oh, she is clever, more so than you lot and she's dead. She didn't lose her phone, she  _planted_  the phone on the murderer!" Everyone looks at the man blankly, except for Sarah who has a thoughtful look on her face and nods in agreement to the man, though it seems to John that she might be pretending seeing as how she looks ready to pass out instead. "When she got out of the car, she knew that she is going to her death. So she left her phone so that we can catch her killer."

"But how?" John and Lestrade ask in utter confusion.

Sarah seems to have arrived to the same conclusion and snaps her fingers, "Oh, of course! It's so obvious!"

"You have no idea do you?" John whispers to the woman.

She replies promptly with a faux smile, "Nope, not a clue!"

"Oh come on! It's Rachel!" Everyone just gives him a blank look. At this, he gives lets out a small laugh in disbelief, "Oh, look at you all, so vacant. It must be very relaxing." He then becomes more serious and faces John, "Rachel is not a name. Check the label on the luggage, there should be an email address on it."

John looks over at Anderson, then Lestrade and Sarah to ask for their permission. A nod from both detectives and a reluctant one from the ME signify for John to proceed. He goes to the luggage and reads the email address aloud.

Sherlock opens up his laptop and starts muttering to himself once again, figuring out that Wilson most likely used her phone for her emails. He then goes on the Mephone website and types in the email address as a username. While he is doing this, both Lestrade and Sarah move to stand behind the detective as he works, while also staying a good distance away. John believes that it is too crowded, but a gesture from Sarah pulls him to her side. "And now…the password is…" he leaves off, gesturing for the group to place the pieces together themselves.

"Rachel," both John and Sarah say in unison.

"Correct."

"So we can read her emails now, how is that going to help?" Anderson asks from his spot, having gone back to leisurely leaning on the doorframe.

And of course, Sherlock could not pass the opportunity to insult the man, "Anderson, don't talk out loud, you'll lower the IQ of the whole street."

"Sherlock…" Sarah says in a warning tone.

"No, we can do more than that. It's a smartphone, it's got a GPS, which means that if you lose it you can find it online. So, being the clever woman she is, she just left us a way to find her killer," Sherlock says as he enters the information and waits for the screen to load.

"But what if the killer decides to get rid of it?" Lestrade asks skeptically.

"We know he didn't," John answers for Sherlock since the detective is a bit preoccupied, "We texted him earlier and he replied…"

"Wait you did what?" Sarah asks incredulously.

"Sherlock…the taxi driver…" Mrs. Hudson is at the door once again.

"Mrs. Hudson," Sherlock gets to his feet and walks to her, "Isn't it time for your evening soother?"

While he is talking to the landlady, John takes a seat on the chair the detective just vacated and watches the screen. Arcanine manages to squeeze into a spot next to him and lays its head on his lap tiredly, John petting its head soothingly. Sarah joins them by bringing another chair over and adjusts her hold on a still sleeping Axew.

Sherlock then turns around to face Lestrade, "We'll need vehicles, helicopters, tracking Pokémon…something. The phone battery isn't going to last forever!"

"But what if it doesn't work?" Lestrade once again asks the detective, much to the man's agitation.

At the laptop, the screen has just been fully loaded and it is zooming into the location. "Sherlock…" both John and Sarah call over.

"What matters now is that we follow the only lead we have!" the detective exclaims to Lestrade, ignoring the two at the laptop. John and Sarah share an exasperated glance before calling him over louder than before. This time, he notices them, "What is it? Where is the phone?"

All three pairs of eyes, four including a curious Arcanine, turn back to the screen, and all are shocked to find out where the phone is. "221B Baker St…it's right here," John utters out in shock.

"But…but how? How can it be here?" Sherlock runs his fingers through his hair in frustration. All at once, the room erupts with noise: Sarah begins questioning John and Sherlock, although the latter isn't really answering; Lestrade calls for everyone to search the building from top to bottom for the missing phone; Anderson continues his accusations and complaining; Sally comes in to further add to the noise with her own complaints; and all the other officers rush around having a new objective to their otherwise pointless search.

While all the people in the room were discussing the case, no one paid much attention to Absol as it looks out the window at the lone cab in front of the building.  _'The disaster is coming…but not now,_ ' it thought quietly in its head. It does, however, keep its gaze on the lone man that exited the cab and follows him until he reaches the landing in front of the door to the living room.

At the same time, Sherlock is trying to get his head in order, and the loud constant noise of every living thing in the room talking at the same time did not help. But a small glance over to John makes the room slow down and the noise becomes distant. He whirls around, looking at everyone, but his thoughts are on something he mentioned earlier that night, ' _Who do we trust, even if we don't know them?'_  He glances over at Absol and finds his Pokémon, staring intently at the mysterious man behind his oblivious landlady. ' _Who passes unnoticed wherever they go?'_  he thinks of how Sir Jeffery Patterson might have hailed a cab to get home from the station. ' _Who hunts in the middle of the crowd?_ ' he imagines a young teenage boy and his freezing Shinx huddling from the rain, but then a 'kind' taxi driver pulls up behind them. He then envisions a drunk and dazed Beth Davenport looking for her car keys only to not find them and having to resort to using the cab to get home.

The clues are all coming to him now: Sir Jeffery, the boy, Beth Davenport, and then Jennifer Wilson, who needed a taxi in order to get to her hotel. He looks down at his Pokémon one more time to find it growling very slowly and on its feet, still keeping its eyes on the shadowy man. The shadowy figure then lifts up a pink smartphone and sends a text to Sherlock, 'Come with me'. He doesn't say a word and heads back downstairs calmly.

"Sherlock, are you okay?" John asks having noticed that the man has been stock still and staring into oblivion.

"What? Yea…I'm fine," he replies monotonously.

"So…how can the phone be here…?" Sarah asks looking at the detective with concern, but not seeing what he is looking at the doorway.

"Dunno," he again replies again monotonously, this time looking over at Absol.

"I'll just try again I guess," John heads back to the laptop to refresh the screen.

"Good idea," he says just as he heads to the door, following an equally stoic Absol.

"Are you sure, you're okay?" Sarah asks worriedly, making a move to follow.

"I'm fine," he says sternly, "I'm just going for some fresh air, Absol needs some too. I'll be fine."

"Okay…" she says hesitantly, but could only watch as the man and his Pokémon leave the room and head downstairs.

* * *

Downstairs, on the front doorstep of 221B Baker Street, Sherlock shrugs on his Belstaff, and both him and Absol keep their eyes off of the man in front of them.

"Taxi, for Sherlock 'Olmes," is all the man said, leaning casually on his cab.

Sherlock and Absol tense up, the former closing the door behind them, "I didn't order a taxi."

The man chuckles humorlessly, "Doesn't mean you don't need one."

"It was you. You're the cabbie that stopped on Northumberland." He remembers now. The cabbie that looked back for a moment.

"Yea, no one ever thinks of the cabbie. It's like you're invisible, and yet people trust you so much. Not even their Pokémon can sense anything. The perfect cover for a serial killer, don' you think?"

Sherlock steps a bit closer to the man, keeping his fingers clasp around one of his pokeballs. He then looks up to the window to his flat, "Is this a confession?"

"Oh, yes. An' I'll tell you this: you call the coppers now, I won't run or fight. I won't even call out any of my Pokémon," he holds up his hands to prove his point. "I'll sit quiet and they can take me down, I promise."

"Why?" Sherlock doesn't like where this is going and neither is Absol. Both share a small, uneasy glance but keep their gaze fixed on the cabbie.

"'Cause you're not gonna do that," the mysterious cabbie steps around the cab to the other side and leans forward over the top, "I didn't kill those four people and their Pokémon Mr. 'Olmes, I spoke to them and made them beat their own beloved partners to death. So if you call those coppers now…" he leans further forward, "I won't tell you what I said."

Absol at this point is glaring at the cabbie and growling lowly. Sherlock holds out his hand to stop the enraged Pokémon from moving forward, but still keeps an eye on the man in front of him. The said man then steps into the car and appears to be sitting patiently for Sherlock to make a move. "No-one else will die…and I believe that that is a result."

"Yea…but you wouldn't know how they died. Which result do you care about?" The cabbie appears confident, almost arrogant that he has figured everything out. Oh, he is definitely going to be a fun one to dissect.

Sherlock bites his lip and looks at the window again to the flat, noticing that both John and Sarah are talking but facing away from the window. He then looks down at Absol, who gives him a resolute and trusting look, solidifying his resolve. So he bends down and looks into the open window of the cab at the cabbie, "What do I have to do?"

The man smirks lightly and starts the car, "Let me take you for a ride Mr. 'Olmes."

"So you'll kill us both too."

"Oh, I'm not going to lay a finger on anyone. I want to try something else, but rest assured…I am gonna talk to ya…and you're gonna kill yourself. Right afta you kill Absol that is." The cabbie said nothing else. Sherlock looks conflicted for only a moment, but steps into the car anyway. Absol follows close behind and closes the door with its psychic powers. And off they went.

* * *

Back upstairs, John has just looked out the window to spot Sherlock entering the cab, "He just got in a cab."

"What?" Sarah rushes to the window to see Absol closing the door. A slightly worried look mars her face.

"It's Sherlock," John turns to Lestrade, but it is directed to Sarah as well, "He just got in a cab."

Sally turns her attention towards the group having heard what John said. She tuts in irritation, "I told you, he does that." Ignoring the obvious eye roll from Sarah, the female detective turns to face her boss, "He bloody left again, and this is all a waste of time!" She storms into the kitchen with a huff.

"I could have told you that a  _long_  time ago! But noooo, you had to…!" Sarah yells back, only to get flipped off.

Meanwhile, John has dialed the lady's number and informs Lestrade, "I'm calling the phone, and it is ringing." The phone is indeed ringing, and Sherlock kept a close eye on it in the cab. Back at the flat, John lowers the phone and tries the computer again.

Lestrade at this point is rubbing his face wearily, "If the phone is ringing, it's not here."

"Maybe…" Sarah suddenly stops, a look of realization strikes her face. However, no one seemed to have paid her any mind, so she slinks over to the settee and sits down quietly, cradling the still sleeping Axew.

"Does any of this even matter?!" Sally exclaims, striding into the room once again with Furfrou in tow this time, "I mean you  _know_  he is a lunatic, and he'll only let you down…" Sarah makes a move to intervene for the man's behalf, but is stopped by Sally, "…and you should know better. We are wasting our time and resources trying to follow this man when it is obvious he doesn't care either way. If we're done here, I'd like to sign out for the night," she said the last part directly to Lestrade.

The DI holds Sally's stare for a moment before sighing in resignation, "We're done 'ere! Let's clean it up!"

The officers and their Pokémon stop what they were doing and look around at their colleagues before dropping everything and clearing out, calling back their Pokémon in the process. Sally looks around and at Anderson before walking out the door with her Pokémon in tow. Anderson goes back to helping clear out the kitchen and calls Gallade back to its pokeball. This leaves John, Sarah, and Lestrade in the living room.

Lestrade is hunched over and keeps shaking his head. He puts on his coat and calls back his Mightyena before looking over at a confused John and a tired, slouching Sarah. "I just don't get it. Why would he leave?"

"Because he's Sherlock, Greg. He must be … onto something … I don't know, what do  _you_  think John," Sarah turns to the man himself, breaking him out of his train of thought.

"How would I know? You both know him better than me."

Sarah shrugs her shoulders tiredly, leaving Lestrade to explain, "I've known him for 5 years, Sarah 4. And no, we don't." Sarah turns to face John and gives him a look that pleads for him to remember their conversation from earlier, which still leaves him confused.

"So why do you put up with him?" John is curious about how the DI will answer.

"Because I'm desperate, that's why." Making sure that the last officer leaves the room, Lestrade makes to follow, but stops and turns back to John, "And because Sherlock Holmes is a great man. And I think one day, if we're very, very  _lucky_ , he might even be a  _good_  one. Do you need a ride, Sarah?"

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks and have a good night." The man nods to both of them and leaves.

John lets out a big sigh and plops down on his armchair, Arcanine once again by his side. Sarah looks over to the man deep in thought and decides to keep quiet herself. What the young woman didn't know is that John's mind is anything but quiet. It has been one of the longest days he has ever experienced sans his time in the war. He started off by checking out a flat with a potential roommate, who turns out to be a brilliant consulting detective/sociopath, and now he is brought into the whirlwind that is the crime-solving world of serial killers, police work, and crime-fighting detectives. He then remembers what he said to his psychiatrist a while back, ' _But nothing happens to me…'_ and scoffs. What he is going to do now he isn't sure, but one glance at his Pokémon and he can see undying trust and support for anything he chooses, and this comforts him greatly. He decided to then head home, or at least…back to his old flat for the night.

Standing up with that resolve, John shakes a dozing Sarah to wake her up before heading out the door. A bark from Arcanine makes him turn around and notice that it is holding his cane in its mouth like a giant stick. John smiles, and Arcanine walks over to hand him the cane. This time, both were about to leave, but a loud ping from the still open laptop grabs their attention. Looking back at Arcanine for a moment, John makes to go over to the laptop and finds that it is still open to the Mephone website, only this time, it is showing the new location of the phone.

"You have to go help him," Sarah says quietly stretching from her uncomfortable position.

"What about you?" John asks looking at the woman in confusion.

She lets out a small sigh, "All I have with me is my sleeping Axew. My other Pokémon are back at my flat, and I am both exhausted and weaponless. I'll be as much help to you as your dear granny."

"Oh…" John is still skeptical.

Sarah looks over at the laptop and sees what the screen in showing, "You need to hurry, before it's too late…"

"So you knew…"

"Sorta, I wasn't a hundred percent sure until I saw this," she gestures to the map to prove her point. She then turns back to John and gives him a stern look, "Now it's your chance to be the friend Sherlock needs. Help him. I'll contact Lestrade, tell me of the location as soon as you have one."

"Right…" John decided to not question the mysterious woman any longer and rushes out the door after grabbing the laptop with Arcanine in tow. Sarah smiles at the pair as they both rush out, and her smile widens when she sees John's cane resting near the doorway, forgotten and no longer needed.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Sherlock and Absol remain silent in their seat in the cab. The detective, however, scans the interior of the small cab, noting a small cut up picture of two children and a Venipede. The children and Bug-type are all smiling towards the camera, and it didn't take long for Sherlock to get an idea of who the man is. Absol then nods towards the seat in front of it, which is the front passenger seat, and Sherlock notices a small Foongus nestled in the seat, previously hidden from view.

"How did you find me?" the detective asks as he leans back and looks out the window.

"Oh, I recognized yer, soon as I saw you chasing my cab. Sherlock 'olmes and his famous Absol! I was warned about you. I've been on your website, too. Brilliant stuff! Loved it!"

Sherlock did not react, but simply asks, "Who warned you about me?"

"Just a fan that took notice."

The detective scoffs and looks at the man now instead of the passing buildings, "Who? Tell me."

"That's all you will know for now…in this lifetime," the cabbie did not say anything else and continues driving. Sherlock takes this time to note something strange on the man's neck…dried shaving cream…and then glances over at the name tag – Jeff Hope.

They eventually stopped in front of two identical buildings side by side. Jeff turns off the engine and remains in his seat. He turns around and faces the duo in the back, "So…?"

"Where are we?" Sherlock asks tersely.

Jeff is having none of it and laughs, "You know every street in London. You know  _exactly_  where we are."

"Roland-Kerr Further Education College. Why here?"

The man shrugs nonchalantly, "It's open; cleaners are in. One thing about being a cabbie: you always know a nice quiet spot for a murder. I'm surprised more of us don't branch out."

"And you just walk your victims in? How?" Jeff answers that question by raising a pistol and pointing it at Sherlock.

The man simply rolls his eyes, "Oh, dull. Besides, Absol can easily rip that gun out of your hands."

"I know."

"So that is why you target victims with Pokémon that are smaller or older…"

"Correct, now…" the man gestures with his pistol at Absol, the Pokémon narrows its eyes, "…put Absol in its pokeball."

"How do you know he has a pokeball?"

"An Absol that stays with a single human for years with such strong devotion…it isn't hard to guess." Sherlock makes no comment, and Absol growls lowly. The cabbie tilts his head and sighs, "Oh well." Without a single warning, the little Foongus leaps up with unmatchable speed and releases a puff of Spore directly at Absol, immediately putting it to sleep.

Sherlock gasps slightly at the sight of the small Pokémon and moves to avoid the attack, but it was concentrated only at Absol. "Absol!" he exclaims in with worry, gently cradling his Pokémon's head as it falls to the seat. He then turns to face Jeff, only to find the man out of the cab and having opened the door to next to Sherlock.

"Leave it. You are coming with me," he says as he aims the gun at Sherlock's head.

Sherlock knows that Absol is only asleep, so he gingerly lays its head down and turns to face Jeff, fingering his other pokeballs, "I have others. As did the other victims."

"I know," the man replies simply again, "but I'm not worried. You won't call out the others, and I won't need to use this." He lowers the gun and lets out a quick whistle to bring Foongus to his side, "'Cause you're gonna follow me." Confidently, the man heads to the building.

Sherlock keeps his gaze on the man for a moment before turning back to Absol. Grimacing and cursing at himself, Sherlock makes to follow.

* * *

In the meantime…

John is in his own cab with Arcanine shaking with anticipation. John had been keeping an eye on the laptop and tracking the movement of the phone, noticing that it has finally stopped.

John immediately picks up the phone and dials Sarah's number she had given him earlier, "Sarah! I've got the address!" Immediately after telling the woman on the other side, he tells the cab driver and off they go.

* * *

Inside the Roland-Kerr College, Jeff opens the door to a room and stands aside so that Sherlock can go in. He then calls out a Whirlipede, and Sherlock keeps his eyes on the cabbie as he steps inside the room. Afterwards, Jeff releases the door and lets it swing closed, leaving the Pokémon outside to guard the door as he turns on the lights. The lights illuminated the room, revealing that the men are in a large classroom which has long fixed wooden tables and plastic chairs. Sherlock walks deeper into the room and looks around.

"Well, what do you think?" Jeff asks gesturing to the space, his Foongus perched on his shoulders, "It doesn't matter to me, you're the one that's gonna die 'ere."

Sherlock turns to face the man, "No, I'm not."

Jeff chuckles as if what the man said is hilarious, "That's what they all say." He then gestures to one of the benches, "Shall we talk?" Without waiting for a reply, he pulls out one of the chairs and sits down, Foongus hopping onto the table.

Sherlock then takes a seat on the opposite side of the table. He sighs dramatically while he takes off his gloves and puts them into his coat pockets, "Bit risky, wasn't it? Took me away under the eyes of about half a dozen policemen. They're not  _that_  stupid, and Mrs. Hudson will remember you. Also, Spore is not meant to last long, my Absol will revive."

Jeff simply smirks, "You call that a risk? Nah." He pulls out two identical bottles from the pockets of his cardigan, each with a single pill inside them. He sets them both equidistant from each other and in front of Sherlock on the table, " _This_  is a risk. Now, I don't wanna get all physical with you Mr. 'olmes, I want this to be a mental challenge. One to your caliber."

The detective glares at the man.  **(** **AN: Now the rest of the scene is pretty similar to the original, so I suggest that you watch the episode yourself if you have not seen it and use your imagination. I won't redo the scene again for this reason. Instead, we will focus on what John and the Pokémon are going to do.)**

* * *

At that moment…

John has just arrived at the Roland-Kerr College and is standing in front of both buildings. Obviously, the site did not explicitly tell where the phone is, but John did see the cab and a knocked out Absol laying inside it.

"Oh by Arceus, Absol!" he exclaims as he runs over to the unconscious Pokémon, relieved that it is still alive albeit sleeping. Shaking it gently awake, John keeps a sharp eye on his surroundings, fearful that the Pokémon that did this is still around. Eventually, Absol grunts and opens its eyes, hesitantly at first before springing to its feet. John just manages to jump away to avoid colliding with the frantic Pokémon, "Absol. Where is Sherlock?"

Absol responds with a bark and gestures for one of the buildings to the right. It then turns to Arcanine and barks some orders that only they can understand. Nodding in understanding, Arcanine begins to push John to the building, "Wha...Arcanine! What's going on?! Is this where Sherlock is?" His Pokémon only replied with a few barks of his own and begins to run ahead towards the building, turning back to face John once it realizes that he wasn't following it. John is confused, so he turns to Absol only to see it head to another building, probably to look for Sherlock there. The former army doctor faces Arcanine again, looking at his Pokémon's eyes. He trusts his Pokémon, and it trusts him in return, so he runs as fast as he could towards the fire-type, and the two head into the building.

* * *

While John is going through the opposite building, Absol is running into the other, using its powers to find Sherlock. But as it got closer to a bend, it becomes aware of another Pokémon guarding the door, a massive Whirlipede. Thinking quickly, Absol hides in the shadows of the hallway, creeping closer to the anxious bug-type. It knows that the armor-plating of a Whirlipede is very hard to get past, and its poison can be lethal. So quietly, it creeps up to the unsuspecting Pokémon, lowering its body to prepare for an attack.

* * *

At the same time, in the other building, John and Arcanine are running side by side through the hallways. As they pass by rooms along the way, they go into every one of them and scan them for the missing detective. "Sherlock!" John calls out as he peers into each room, "Sherlock?"

Arcanine, still remembering the instructions given to it, speeds up ahead and goes to each room, looking for the right one. Then it notices something in one of the rooms. Outside the window in the adjacent building a few windows down, he believes he spots shadows moving. With this knowledge, Arcanine rushes out of the room towards John, gesturing for him to follow. John realizes that Arcanine must have found something and pulls out his handgun. They both stop in front of a door that Arcanine is sure is the right one and give each other a nod. Arcanine hops in front of the door, pounces and knocks it open. John follows right behind and is met with a shocking sight in the next building.

"Sherlock!"

* * *

Absol has only one shot and he has to make it count. Amidst the Curlipede Pokémon's extensive armor, there is one weak spot on it that Absol has to hit. So lowered and prepared to strike, Absol collects its power in its mouth and leaps into the air at the surprised Whirlipede. Not giving the Pokémon any time to react, Absol fires off a Dark Pulse at the other Pokémon's eye where it is the most exposed. The attack is powerful enough to damage and stun it enough for Absol to use Psychic and slam the bug-type through the door into the room, just as Sherlock holds up the pill.

The action causes both men to turn and face the two fighting Pokémon. Absol wastes no time and rushes in. Bounding over tables and chairs straight at Sherlock, it swipes the pill out of his hands and lands gracefully by Sherlock's side.

At the same time, Jeff calls for his own Pokémon, "Foongus! Whirlipede! Use Toxic!" Both Pokémon obey. Whirlipede, having recovered from the attacks, and Foongus both unleash a stream of liquid, purple poison straight at Absol.

"Dodge it Absol, and use Dark Pulse," Sherlock commands instinctively. The Disaster Pokémon jumps out of the way of the first shot, and while in the air, it fires another Dark Pulse before avoiding the second. However, the second shot ricocheted off the wall and is headed straight towards Sherlock. Reacting on impulse, Absol runs straight into the poison's path and takes it head on before it touched Sherlock. While that is going on, the Dark Pulse slams into Whirlipede, who then flies back and hits Foongus, and both collide with the wall behind them.

"No," Jeff mutters, looking at his battered Pokémon. He then makes a move to grab something from his pocket. But before he could, a gunshot rings out, and a bullet impacts Jeff's chest close to his heart. The bullet goes straight through his body and into the door behind him. As he falls to the floor, Sherlock backs away in surprise both at Absol shielding him from Toxic and Jeff getting shot at.

Sherlock immediately turns around, slides over the desk behind him and hurries to the window, bending down to look through the bullet hole in the glass. The window of the opposite room is open but there is nobody in sight. As the detective straightens-up and fixes his collar, Jeff remains on the floor breathing and coughing heavily. Sherlock turns to face the man in disgusts and then spots the pill on the ground and picks it up, "Did I get it right?!" He got no response from the injured man other than more wheezing and grunts. He bends down over Jeff and shoves the pill in his face, "I was, wasn't I?  _Did_  I get it right?!" Jeff simply smirks and does not reply, making the angry detective hurl the pill at his face while standing up. "Fine, tell me this: your sponsor. Who was it? The one who told you about me. My 'fan'. I want a name."

Weakly, the cabbie croaks out, "No."

"You're dying, but there's still time to hurt you," he says as he presses his foot down on the bullet wound, "Give me a name!" Jeff grimaces and grunts louder in pain, "Now! Give. Me. A.  _Name!_ "

" _MORIARTY!"_ Jeff screams out loud, before going limp. His Pokémons snap out of their daze at their trainer's scream and rush to his side, completely ignoring the detective.

Sherlock catalogs the name in his head as he too goes over to his Pokémon. Absol was hit squarely on the face with the Toxic move so it has been badly poisoned. And as Sherlock crouches down to inspect his ill Pokémon, he could not help but mutter that name over and over again.

* * *

Later on, Sherlock steps out of the college into the throng of police officers and medical personnel relatively unharmed. In his arms, he carries his poisoned Absol while avoiding the heavily clad officers and their Pokémon as they enter the building.

"You silly Pokemon, why did you do that? Why jump in front of the attack for me?" Sherlock mutters at his Pokémon, and it simply gives him a weak grin before falling unconscious.

"Because it cares about you," came a reply from a certain female special investigator as she walks up to the two, Axew fully awake and taking in the entire scene, "It's really not that hard to comprehend."

Sherlock scoffs, but doesn't say anything. He wordlessly hands Absol to a special Pokémon paramedic who would then take Absol to a nearby Pokémon Center. Before Absol is taken away, Sherlock gives it one more stroke on the head. As he turns around to face Sarah, he finds the woman smirking at him, "What?"

"Nothing," she drops the subject and takes Sherlock over to a human ambulance in which he takes a seat on the back steps before leaving to perform a preliminary investigation of the crime scenes. Once the young woman leaves, a paramedic puts an orange blanket around Sherlock's shoulders, which he shrugs off. Afterwards, a different paramedic comes over, hands the detective a foam cup with cheap, tasteless tea, and once again places the blanket around Sherlock's shoulders. This goes on for some time, with both paramedics placing the blanket on the man whenever they pass by him and Sherlock shrugging it off and going as far as to throw it in the back of the ambulance. The first paramedic is just placing the blanket on Sherlock once again as Lestrade walks over to the silent man with his Mightyena and Sarah.

Once the group arrives, Sherlock gestures to the blanket, "Why have I got this blanket? They keep putting this blanket on me."

Sarah chuckles loudly and doesn't bother to hide it. So Lestrade answers, "Yea, it's for shock."

"But I'm not in shock."

"Hey, you never know. Maybe you're in shock right now but are delusionally denying it," Sarah manages to utter out between chuckles.

Lestrade joins her, "Besides, some of the guys really wanna take photographs, and the two paramedics wanted to help out," Both detectives of Scotland Yard and their Pokémon burst into laughter at the man's expense, at which he made his displeasure very clear.

Once the mirth died down a bit, Sherlock rolls his eyes and turns to face the two, "The shooter? No sign?"

"No," Sarah shrugs almost nonchalantly, "Whoever it was split faster than a rabbit at the sight of a hawk. Left no scent trails as well surprisingly."

"But a guy like Mr. Hope over there would have had enemies, I suppose," Lestrade adds in and gestures to the body strapped to a gurney, "One of them could have been following him but ... got nothing to go on. Even his Pokémon did not give anything away." At this, both Sherlock and Sarah look at Lestrade pointedly, and the man rolls his eyes, "Okay, fine. What do ya got?"

Sherlock stands up and starts things off, "The bullet they just dug out of the door's from a handgun. Kill shot over that distance from that kind of a weapon..."

"...the person was a sharpshooter, a fighter... ?" Sarah continues.

"Yes...a clear marksman who's hands did not shake at all at the possibility of killing another person..."

"So he or she is used to high levels of violence. Even from the way the door to the room the shooter was in was smashed in, one can guess that their Pokémon is very strong as well..."

"However, he didn't fire until he believed I was in immediate danger, so strong moral principle. So you're looking for a man probably with a relatively large Pokémon along with a history of military service ..." As Sherlock said those words, he looks around and spots John and Arcanine looking at him behind the police tape some distance away, "...and nerves of steel..." John smirks a little and the pair turn away, acting innocent as if they were on-lookers. Both Lestrade and Sarah turn to look at where the taller man was looking, but only the latter understood and chuckles. "Actually...you know what? Ignore me."

"What?" the DI exclaims in confusion.

"Just...uh...ignore all that it was the  _shock_  talking," he begins to walk away from the two and head towards John.

"Wait where are you going? I've still got questions!" Lestrade yells out, his Mightyena making a move to stop him.

"I just need to talk about the uh the rent," he then turns around and gestures to his blanket, "Besides I'm in shock! I'm delusional. I've got the blanket and stuff..."

Lestrade makes a move to follow, but Sarah stops both him and Mightyena and the group watches the man leave, "Let him be. He  _did_  catch our killer...more or less." Lestrade lets out a sigh but nods in agreement. Then, both let out a small chuckle and watch merrily as their 'friend' walks off.

Sherlock, on his way towards John, rolls up the blanket and throws it into a police car, while at the same time grabbing a box with three pokepuffs from the car. He then ducks underneath the police tape and approaches John and his Arcanine.

"So uh, Sergeant Donovan explained everything. The two pills. Dreadful isn't it?"

Sherlock did not say anything at first, but does give John a look, "Good shot."

Both John and Arcanine share a glance before looking at Sherlock innocently, "Oh yes, yea. That would have been some shot."

"Oh,  _you'd_  know." John once again gives the detective his best innocent look, which of course Sherlock rolls his eyes at and gestures to John's hands as well as Arcanine, "Need to get the powder burns out of your fingers, and Arcanine could do with some grooming. I don't suppose you'd serve time for this, but let's avoid the court case."

John clears his throat nervously and looks away, "So it's true...I killed him." Sherlock nods in confirmation. John looks away sadly and Arcanine whines as it tries to comfort him, "What about his Pokémon?"

"They will be given to the man's family."

"He had a family?" John's voice cracked a bit at that. He draws his hands closer to himself and looks utterly devastated, which worried Arcanine very much. "But he…he had a…a gun…"

"He did, but a fake one. Must have reached for it on impulse."

"So I killed a man that…"

Sherlock lets out a puff of breath, "John...please keep in mind that he is still a murderer and had to be stopped. You had not only saved countless lives of people and Pokémon, but also mine."

John is surprised at Sherlock's admission and could help but blush at the praise. He then lets out a small puff of breath before smirking a bit, "Well, he wasn't a very nice man now was he?"

Sherlock scoffs but smirks a bit, "Indeed. A bloody awful cabbie as well. You should have seen the route he took us to get here."

Both men chuckle a bit but smiled contently, both glad that finally, the ordeal is over. Sherlock looks over at John, who is patting Arcanine contently on the head, and could not help but wonder why he whole-heartedly went with the notion of sharing a flat with this man he met the previous day. He doesn't understand what drew him to this man, why he seems to want to impress him, or why he wants to seek his companionship in these times. After all, he trusted John to show up in time. He trusted both John and Absol to show-up.

"Say, what was going on in there anyway?" John asks suddenly, breaking Sherlock out of his thoughts.

"It's a long story..." Sherlock answers cryptically.

"So your plan was to what? Go with the murderer without any back-up? Be in the same room with him without Absol... you do get a kick out of this, do you? Risking your life to prove that you are clever."

"I wasn't risking anything. I ...  _knew_  that both you and Absol would show up in time," Sherlock refuses to use that 't' word just yet.

John smirks, "You know...where I'm from, that's called being an idiot."

"Well, then...welcome to my world." Both men burst into laughter, drawing the attention of several officers on the scene.

"We should probably get out of here," John suggests with a smirk.

"Good idea." Both men and Arcanine start to head away from the scene of the crime. Sherlock then opens the box of Pokepuffs for both John and Arcanine, and after thanking the man, both took one. Sherlock also grabbed one and lets his thoughts wander again.

Yes, somehow Sherlock decided to bring this man into his crazy, hectic life. Looking over to the smiling man and his happy Pokémon, Sherlock feels, oddly enough, happy that John understood him and accepted his personality and odd behavior. He is known for many things, but predicting the future isn't one of them. He is, however, willing to see where this goes. For now, though, Sherlock needs to focus on this Moriarity character. Who is this person? What are they up to? His head is swirling with theories, but for now, he keeps them to himself. No use worrying John over something that could be nothing.

"Sherlock..." John says quietly as he shakes the man gently to break him out of his reverie again. The man did so, and John gestures to another man stepping out of a dark car, along with a silver Ninetales. Sherlock immediately recognizes this new arrival and tenses up. "Sherlock, do you know him?" John asks hesitantly.

"I know who that is John," Sherlock replies and the three make their way to the man, who is now fully out of the car and in full view, his rare Ninetales in full view as well. Sherlock looks thoroughly angry at the man standing in front of them, and this makes John a bit nervous.

"So, another case cracked. How very public-spirited ... though that's never really your motivation, is it?" the man says upon their arrival in a haughty manner. Ninetales also lifts its head in a similar manner.

"What are you doing here?" Sherlock was having none of the man's attitude.

"As ever, I'm concerned about you."

"Yes, I've been hearing about your 'concern'."

"Must you always be so aggressive? Did it never occur to you that you and I belong on the same side? We have more in common than you like to believe. This petty feud between us is simply childish. People will suffer ... and you know how it always upset Mummy."

John frowns in confusion at the word 'mummy'. He glances at Arcanine who has an equally confused look on its face. John wants to ask both men what was going on, but they begin to squabble, completely ignoring the other two present. After a while, John had enough and exclaims, "Would someone care to explain to me what is going on!"

Sherlock rolls his eyes, but does not face him, "John, Arcanine, this is my brother, Mycroft."

Both stare in shock and amazement, "He's...your brother?"

"More like a thorn in my side with a superiority complex."

"You're forgetting Sherlock that I occupy a minor position of the British Government. Without me, you would not be wandering the streets at all," Mycroft says with a tilt of his head. John realizes that the two are at it again, and he is all but forgotten. He is, however, surprised to hear that Sherlock has a brother in the government, which he guesses clears up how Sherlock is indeed somehow not in jail yet. His attention, as well as Arcanine's, is then drawn to the rare Ninetales, having never seen a shiny Pokémon before.

"Don't act so humble, you _are_  the British government, at least according to yourself, when you're not too busy being the British Secret Service or the CIA on a freelance basis." Having heard that last bit, John's attention goes straight back to Mycroft. Sherlock senses his gaze and without facing John, he says with disgust evident in his voice, "He's got eyes everywhere, busying himself with prying into other people's lives." Mycroft sighs a bit almost sadly. Sherlock then strolls around his brother and his Pokémon, "Good evening, Mycroft. Try not to start a war before I get home. You know what it does for the traffic." With that, he waltzes away from the group, leaving them gazing after him.

John makes to follow, but then turns to face Mycroft, "You really  _are_  concerned about him, are you?"

Mycroft sighs sadly and gazes at his brother's retreating back, "Of course I am. He is my brother. But he has always been so resentful." Ninetales huffs in agreement. It then stretches a bit before heading back into the car.

Both John and Arcanine got the idea, and the man turns to face the government official, "I better...uh...go now." With a parting nod, both man and Pokémon turn to rush back to Sherlock's side.

As he leaves, a woman steps out of the car with her Vulpix and Meowstic at her side. Her eyes are glued to her phone as she walks towards Mycroft to stand by his side.

In no time, both John and Arcanine caught up with the detective, "So, are you ready to settle in?"

John chuckles and rubs Arcanine's head merrily, "I believe we are."

"You did get shot though...there was an actual wound."

"Yea, on my shoulder."

"Left."

"Lucky guess."

"I never guess..."

"Yes you do, admit it," John says happily glancing over to the man. As the two continue their trek back to Baker St, they share a small smirk with each other and both burst into laughter. Arcanine yips happily before running on ahead of them, turning back every once and a while to check that they are still following it. Then, out of the blue, John stops and crosses his arms, his smile remains on his face, "You know what? What do you say we have a Pokémon battle. After all, a battle is where a trainer and their Pokémon's true personality shows. Thought it might be a good thing for flatmates to know each other's personality and that of their Pokémon."

Sherlock turns to face the man, and his smile turns to a challenging smirk, "Then you're on."

* * *

Back with Mycroft and the woman, the man watches as both men walk away, his eyes especially trained on the doctor. That soldier intrigued him greatly, and he has a sneaking suspicion that Dr. Watson can truly either help his brother, or make him worse than ever. Only time can tell.

"Sir, shall we go now?" the woman asks, looking up from her phone at her boss. Her Pokémons also follow her example.

Mycroft sighs and looks over at his assistant, "Yes. We must also upgrade their surveillance status. Grade 3 Active. Notify the agent while you're at it, she will need to know."

The assistant nods and smirks, "Whose status, sir?"

"Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson."

And the two said men shook hands, accepting the other's challenge.

* * *

_Epilogue_

The next afternoon, outside the massive, London Pokémon Center in one of the more secluded battlefields borderline by trees and greenery, John and Sherlock stand on opposite sides. By their sides are their leading Pokémon: Absol and Arcanine respectively. Earlier, the group had picked-up a recovered Absol at the same Pokémon Center, and the said Pokémon is fired up and ready for action.

A breeze blows through the field as both Pokémon step forward and face each other. "Are you ready Arcanine?" John calls out. His Pokémon huffs and gives a toothy grin. John then faces his opponent with the same fire in his eyes as his Pokémon, "I won't go easy."

"I know you won't," the detective replies with a confident smile, "The first move is yours."

"Alright. Arcanine, use Flamethrower!" His Pokémon obeys, and from its mouth, a jet stream of fire shoots out and heads straight to the stoic Absol.

"Dodge," Sherlock says calmly, and Absol leaps out of the way quickly.

"Keep the Flamethrower going and follow Absol," Arcanine keeps the flames coming, but shifts its aim towards Absol.

"Use Double Team." Multiple clones of Absol appear in the air and on the ground, confusing Arcanine as it couldn't find the real one.

"Don't panic Arcanine, remember our training for this! Use Agility!" Arcanine snaps into focus and with a burst of speed dashes through the clones. John knows that this move is perfect for this situation since it increases Arcanine's speed as well as destroys the copies.

"Use Dark Pulse," Absol, along with some of the remaining copies, fires the dark-type move at the speeding Pokémon, It took a while, but the move eventually makes contact and pushes Arcanine back a few feet. Absol and the copies land lightly on their feet, ready to fire again.

"That was powerful," John mutters to himself, but then a fierce look takes over, "But we can take it! Arcanine, use Agility to dodge the attacks and then use ExtremeSpeed!" Arcanine nods, and as the Dark Pulses careen towards it, the Agility enables it to dodge the multiple attacks. Then, when it is at a prime distance, it launches into a powerful and fast run, so fast that one can see the air around it as it whirls around the Pokémon's body.

Sherlock is almost impressed. It was a brilliant combination that makes Arcanine's speed almost impossible to match. He knows that Absol is fast, but it can never be fast enough. So he makes a quick decision, "Counter it with Dark Pulse." Trusting its trainer, Absol fires its most powerful Dark Pulse head-on at Arcanine. The attacks collide, resulting in a great big explosion.

Once the smoke clears, both Pokémon are once again facing each other. Both are breathing heavily as they stare down each other, and all is quiet. John and Sherlock are also having their own staring contest; however, their stares are of admiration for the other's strategies and Pokémon.

"Absol is amazing Sherlock, you trained it well."

The man nods with a smile, "Thank-you. Arcanine is not so bad either."

John chuckles, "Yea well...that was just a warm-up. Arcanine, Flare Blitz!" Arcanine springs into a run once again towards Absol, but this time, its body is engulfed in a bright flame.

"Absol, get ready..." Sherlock cautions and Absol braces itself for the incoming Pokémon.

Meanwhile, behind a tree within the cluster bordering the battlefield, a mysterious figure watches the battle. The figure is leaning against the tree while keeping out of sight within the shadows of the grove. Not much else can be made out of this shadowy person. A few moments later, a woman steps out of the shadows of the treeline, revealing to be Mycroft's assistant. By her side are her constant companions, Vulpix and Meowstic. She too, leans on the tree next to the other person, still on her phone and not at all phased by the mysterious, and almost intimidating presence.

"Hello, Anthea. It's good to see that you made it," the shadowy figure greets calmly, still keeping their eyes on the battle.

The woman, however, skips the formalities, not having time for such, "Do you have your report?"

The figure sighs exaggeratedly, "No, I'll send your bloody report later."

"Today is your final deadline, don't forget it..."

"I know, I know alright," the person exclaims, finally facing the other stoic woman, "I've been doing this for quite some time after all...Agatha?" Anthea gives the other person a pointed look, in which they hold up their hands in mock surrender, "Alright alright... _Anthea_...I'll figure out your real name eventually."

"Yea, and then Mr. Holmes is going to give me a raise," Anthea smirks a bit, but still keeps her eyes on her phone. Honestly, they are going to steal that phone one day just to get the woman to talk to them straight.  **(AN: For now, to hide the identity of our mysterious person, I will refer to him/her using the third-person plural.)**

"Was that sarcasm I hear?"

"Another thing," Anthea ignores the last comment, "Mr. Holmes is updating their surveillance status to Grade 3 Active to include both Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson."

"Great, more work for me then," the figure sighs and rubs their face in exhaustion, "I'm honestly doing the best I can. Tell Mr. Holmes that I'll send in my confirmation email later tonight with the report."

"Will that be all?"Anthea asks after a moment of silence.

At this, the figure's face darkens even more so, and their eyes tense with seriousness, "My sister?"

"Perfectly safe." With that, Anthea turns to walk away.

"Good. Nice doin' business with you," the agent turns back to the battle.

Anthea pauses and turns back around, "And you as well." The woman saunters away, but not before adding, "Good luck agent. And another thing, I would reread my contract if I were you. Read it carefully, because I believe you have forgotten what you signed-up for." And with that final warning, the woman and her two Pokémon walk away, leaving the agent to look on until they are out of sight.

They sigh, "They would never understand. They have not been around Sherlock as much as me so I know what I'm doing. I hope." Saying nothing more, the person goes back to watching the intense battle.

The battle has been going on for quite some time, with neither side backing down. They now understood each other's strategies, and their Pokémon can counter the other's moves. Some hits landed, while others missed or countered. Once the dust settled again, both Pokémon struggle a bit to stay on their feet due to exhaustion, but both are still fired up and determined to win. Their trainers can see the fire in their eyes too, so they called in one final attack.

"Arcanine, use Flamethrower!"

"Absol, Dark Pulse!"

The stream of fire collides with the beam of dark energy rings. At the point of contact of these two powerful attacks, a bright explosion erupts, covering the field in a great, big dome of light.

**Author's Note:**

> I had originally made a poll to see who you guys think the winner will be and was going to announce the results in the second installment of this series. However, life happened, and I just don't think a second installment will be in the books, not with my current crazy schedule. But I am still interested in hearing your theories, so please leave them down below.
> 
> This story had taken me well over a month to write, and while it had been a lot of fun, it was also very challenging. So please tell me what you guys think! And leave kudos as well!
> 
> Until next time! This is FD signing out!
> 
> Peace!
> 
> FD


End file.
